Elements of Order
by Crimson Saber
Summary: A new generation begins where the last one finished it's adventures. Follow, Kenshin hinomoto, Fumiko Uzumaki, Kei and the old copy-nin himself, Kakashi Hatake, as they brave the new dangers that threaten the ninja world's peace. small narusaku
1. A new Team

ok, well I know this might cheese some people off, but I'm starting a new story to be updated alongside the Digital sword, and this is going to be produced mainly by me, but with OC's, edits, and contributions from 3 other authors who are my friends in real life, G. Reaper, shadowronin and Takaondo, which are on my favorites list, The OC's go, Sanosuke to G. Reaper, Raven to Shadowronin and Kei to Takaondo, with Fumiko and Kenshin belonging to me. I thank these great authors and great friends in accompanying me in my endeavor and I promise to have updates on the other story, I pinkie swear, lol, so yeah. I don't own Naruto and never will, unfortunate because I'd have all this happen in the manga and anime. ok, so on with the fic!

Elements of order

"SASUKE!! NARUTO!!! NO!"……Her love was at stake

"I kept my promise, Sakura" … A hero discovered his destiny

"Sharingan!" *Shlickt**gurgle*…….A Dark Avenger was consumed with hatred.

"No, I won't let it end like this, don't you die on me Naruto Uzumaki! I would never forgive you if you leave me alone now, not after all that!"She pounded on his chest as she tried to heal him in the pouring rain, blood was everywhere and his heartbeat was faint……….. What was revealed that night?

"RASENGAN!" "CHIDORI!" A brother fell and love was revealed in the midst of grief. A hero met destiny and had overcome the final challenge, braved death itself and awoke to a guardian angel.

But that my friends, is a story for another day. Suffice it to say that Naruto became the Seventh Hokage, married Sakura and commanded great acclaim for his efforts in quieting the hate of the ninja world.

Konoha had a rough period after being destroyed, but it was rebuilt, greater than ever by everyone's combined efforts and due in no small part to Yamato's wood release techniques.

The rookie nine had grown into major contributors for the village. Shikamaru had grown, married Temari, and now taught at the academy as a ninjutsu instructor. Ten-ten taught along-side him as the primary weapons specialist. Genjutsu remained split between both and the head master, Iruka.

Neji and Hinata now serve as joint heads of the Hyuuga clan and are now affiliated with the Inuzuka clan through Hinata's marriage to Kiba. Hanabi and Konohamaru are current jounins with their own teams.

Ino has taken over her mother's flower shop and currently doubles as a combat medic and on-call physician at the hospital, which is now headed by Sakura. Tsunade has stepped down as Hokage and now leads a quiet life as the head of the maternity ward.

Kakashi is still taking on teams in his old age, even nearing 50; he's still as spry as ever, and even a little bit more perverted. He stopped reading make-out paradise around Naruto out of respect for Jiraiya, now however; he's been toying with the idea of writing his own series as homage to the old master.

Speaking of the old man, we find him sitting at the training grounds, perched on a stump. His wise eye was judging every movement made by his current team of 15 year old pupils and couldn't help but reminisce a little. They were all there in their own way, the original team 7.

Fumiko, Naruto and Sakura's daughter was the spitting image of her mother. Blue-eyed and pink-haired, beautiful but deadly, and already adept at chakra control and the Rasengan, gifted with both as a result of her inherited high chakra yield. She danced around the field, swiping at an energetic young man with dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

Kenshin Hinomoto, the definite naruto of the group, was currently avoiding the super-powered punches from a very angry girl. An observer might note that Fumiko's face looked a bit blackened and she knew just who to blame for that. Kenshin specialized with explosives and the poor boy had let one drop from his pocket during their pursuit exercise and it had exploded in the now-enraged kunoichi's face.

Sheathed sabers on his back, matted spiky hair with a flame bandana and a crimson and black outfit adorned the ninja as well as a belt of explosives and a knapsack above the sheathes. Also adept at the Rasengan, his father, the Crimson Comet of Konoha had gone MIA after an S-rank infiltration mission while the boy was young. Left with no mother after she passed during his birth, the Hokage took him under his wing and gave him his own place, checked up on him and taught him all he knew.

While the boy did not know it, he too was an inheritor of what had made his father special. Kakashi mused; the boy had abilities akin to his. Rare-colored chakra flowed through him, but it has been kept hidden. Kakashi was sworn to secrecy by Naruto, who had come into the possession of Isamu Hinomoto's crimson chakra sabers. While he hadn't introduced Kenshin's legacy yet, the boy was still schooled in their use. Not only this, but when Isamu had come to the village, he had arrived from an unknown village within the country of fire. It was discovered that this place had bred an unusual kekkai genkai. The people of this village were able to stream fire chakra from every chakra point in their bodies, however, after the village decimation, the only survivor was the sole heir and now his son was the successor.

Kakashi finished his musing and nodded, this one was very interesting indeed. The two had been raised very close, however this might have only added to the kunoichi's temper as he knew how to push her buttons and she knew how to push his when she wanted to.

"Fumiko, stop trying to kill me, it was an accident!" Kenshin kept dodging the monster blows as trees and earth were blown from the impacts.

"That little accident hurt a lot! You clumsy jerk!"Fumiko raged at her prey, leading him into another thicket of forest before an insane grin adorned her face. She had cornered him and she knew it.

Unaware of the pain that was going to be visited upon him soon, kenshin kept going until he was backed into a tree and he stopped cold "Oh hell!" he exclaimed before cringing in anticipation for the blow.

1 second……2……then 3 passed and there was no face-breaking. He opened his eyes to find Fumiko's face close to his own, a little too close for his own comfort. She locked eyes and looked dreamily into his before smiling sweetly "Gotcha!"

Kenshin looked puzzled for a split second before she bopped him on the top of the head, knocking the shinobi on his rear, quite painfully. "OUCH!"

Fumiko laughed and stuck her tongue out at him, winked and walked back toward their sensei. Kakashi shook his head, and sighed. _She's going to be dangerous when she's older._ He also couldn't help but snicker a little at her antics, mind games always worked on teenagers, no matter who you were.

Kenshin sat up and yelled "Hey no fair! You tricked me! "

"Idiot, it's your fault for making her mad in the first place." A cool voice came from up above the tree where he had been pounded. Ken directed his aggression at his teammate sitting in the tree.

"You could have helped you know!" Kenshin complained at the raven-haired boy in the tree. "You're such a jerk sometimes Kei."

The young man shrugged. Kakashi sighed, and there was the sasuke. Dark hair, sapphire eyes, spiky black hair and pale skin. He was very like him in appearances, but Kakashi noted a lack of vengefulness and hatred. Sai had raised the other orphan as a part of his gifted child program, the only reason Kenshin and Fumiko weren't from the same roots was because they were under the Hokage's watchful eye. Armguards with removable swords and a white outfit were his style. Also an inheritor of a Kekkai genkai, he was able to control wind and water to a degree, simply called storm, his abilities were impressive as well. He was a noticeably lazy shinobi, but did what he was told. He acts very distant from the other two, for some unknown reason. Kakashi deduced that it could be from his mysterious past.

Kenshin growled and stalked off after Fumiko, but before he did that he let an explosive slip out of his belt at the base of the tree, and as he walked away, he secretly let a tiny fire spark ignite the fuse and waited for the flash bang to go off before he groaned "Oops, I'm so clumsy."

"Yes you are" he heard next to him, Kei walked past him and smacked him in the back of the head. Kenshin grimaced again, that was the third time this week he'd gotten away from a flash bang.

"You may not pay attention to what you're doing but I certainly am, especially when there's a pyromaniac playing with bombs near me." Kei said all of this, giving Kenshin an even stare, which angered the shinobi even more.

"Why I oughta!" Kenshin reared his fist back and coated it in flame, while Kei manifested a wind shield. He was about to swing before Kakashi rocketed off the stump and caught his arm.

"Now, now, let's stop all of this childish bickering. You wouldn't want to end up tied to the post again, would you Kenshin?" Kakashi aimed his singular sight toward the fuming young man.

Kenshin yelped and shook his head vigorously, he'd remembered being tied up and tales of his mentor didn't help in his dislike of it. Kakashi chuckled and let him go. "There's a good lad, and Kei, stop picking him, he can't help his clumsiness sometimes."

Fumiko put her hands on her hips. "That's for sure; he's going to get us all killed one day." Kenshin stuck his tongue out at her. "Hey, I just mess up sometimes."

Kakashi sighed. _Kids these days, I'm getting too old for this._

"Ok then CHILDREN," Stressing his point and catching glares from all three. "We're done for the day, now go home and get some rest; we have some work to do tomorrow."

Kei raised a brow. "What kind of work sensei?"

Kakashi smiled. "It's a secret!"

The three groaned, secrets never boded well for them. "Well, just don't be late again sensei!" Fumiko lectured the copycat ninja.

Kenshin scoffed. "You know he will be hehe." He grinned mischievously at the indignant look on his teacher's face.

"Yeah, whatever, I'm on my way home then. Oh and kenshin, try and work on those little slip-ups. I won't like having to help Fumiko exact horrible vengeance. Oh who am I kidding; I'd enjoy it very much." Kei cracked a smile as his teammate huffed.

"Stop calling me an idiot and you'll stop getting bombarded!" Kenshin fired back. "Then stop being one!" Kei snickered as he once again got the best of Kenshin.

Fumiko laughed. "Give it up Ken, he's got you beat again." Kenshin growled at Kei and was about to lunge again, but Fumiko restrained him. "Come on, let's go home, and leave the cool person alone." She began to drag him off. "Bye sensei, bye Kei."

Kenshin was outraged. "How can you say that? I'm way cooler!" Fumiko cuffed him over the head. "Not in that way you moron, cooler headed." They disappeared around the corner.

Kakashi felt a sigh of relief leave his body. At least there wasn't going to be any of that "oh sasuke-kun!" fawning this time around. _Thank Kami._

Kei just chuckled. "I know what that sigh means sensei. I couldn't agree more. The thought of having a woman like that following me around terrifies me."

They both shared a hearty laugh. "Ok sensei, I'm off home." Kakashi nodded and Kei vanished. Kakashi then strolled off in his own direction, it seemed like he needed to visit the memorial more and more, and this relative peace was slightly unnerving, already three years with this team and nothing like Zabuza had happened. That meant that he was getting paranoid about something FAR more troubling on the horizon, he just couldn't place it.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Fumiko and Kenshin…….

"Why do you have to treat me like I'm some bumbling idiot? I do my best." Kenshin wasn't too happy right about now, he had his arms crossed and was pouting after his comrade.

Fumiko sighed and shrugged. "I know, I know. You just drive me crazy sometimes with the way you act." This earned a smile from her companion.

"Oh I know, I think it's cute when you have that vein popping out of your forehead." Kenshin quipped and cracked an eye open to catch her reaction before chuckling.

Fumiko had stopped rigid and he had gotten a few steps on her. "That's payback for today. You're not the only one who can play mind games."

Fumiko frowned. "You know I don't like it when you do that, now I feel bad, thanks a lot."

Kenshin raised a brow. "Is that so? Well then, let me cheer you up with THIS….." He moved and succeeded to tickle her, which wound up with her laughing hysterically.

This earned some odd stares from the denizens of Konoha, but a few who knew the pair knew this was natural and smiled.

"STOP, STOP! HAHAHAHAHA! I can't take it anymore! HAHAHAHA" Fumiko laughed until she cried, all the while trying to shoo her friend away from her ticklish areas.

Kenshin heeded her cries for mercy. "Alright, I think you're cheered up enough."

Fumiko giggled and punched his arm, a little harder than necessary probably. "You play around too much."

He rubbed his sore spot. "You play too rough!" He gave her a wide, wide grin.

She returned it full force and they both laughed all the way to the Hokage's mansion. They walked up the steps and knocked on the door. Sakura answered and beamed with pride when she saw her daughter and Kenshin. "Well hello there, kids!" their cringes at being called such went unnoticed

Fumiko rolled her eyes playfully. "Hi mom, what's for dinner?" Sakura stepped aside and ushered them in. "I'm making barbecue pork ramen; you know how your father demands it at least once a week." The two women nodded and laughed.

They continued into the house, passing all the memorabilia from Naruto and Sakura's battles, it was like a super hero's lair in here. Swords, kunais, masks, and even the occasional scroll adorned the walls. It would have made any other boy have to swallow his fear if he were here to meet Fumiko's father.

Kenshin let out a low whistle. "I almost forget how decorated this place is. It's almost breath-taking."

Sakura smiled. "Always appreciated to have your handiwork praised."

He went-wide-eyed, "A place this big has to take a long time to decorate!"

The elder woman chuckled. "No Kenshin, that's not what I meant, you know Naruto wouldn't have gotten as good if I weren't around to bail him out at times."

Kenshin grinned. "Of course, every great man has an equally great woman behind him."

Sakura nudged Fumiko, who shooed her mom away from her side, but this exchange went unnoticed by Kenshin who was still looking around and walking behind them.

"So Ken, are you staying for dinner? It's been a few days since you have." Kenshin looked at the clock on the wall and then heard his stomach grumble. He blushed in embarrassment. "Uh, sure thing Mrs. Uzumaki, thanks a lot!"

She grinned. "I think Naruto's upstairs relaxing, why don't you go and pay him a visit? He sure likes to see how your training is progressing."

He beamed and started for the stairs. "Of course, I love visiting with Hokage-sama, I'll see you ladies for dinner then!"

Fumiko snickered. "Don't tell him what that bump on your head is from ok?"

He gave her the thumbs-up." Of course not, and then I'd probably get in trouble for what I did in the first place. "They both laughed.

Sakura shooed him out. "Off with you, Ken, I need to speak with my daughter. Woman business, you wouldn't be interested."

Kenshin paled and did as he was told, there were so many things that that could mean and he didn't want to be around for ANY of them. He ran up the stairs until he came upon a set of decorative doors. A spiral on each with gold handles, oh yeah; this was a Hokage's study door.

Kenshin knocked on the door, but found it opening on its own. The room was dark and the window was open with the curtains billowing in the night breeze. Kenshin narrowed his eyes, something was off.

He drew his sabers and scouted the room, shutting the windows and probing a few corners. He deduced that there was nobody in the room, but did not bother to look up and see the pair of fox-like eyes staring down at him. A cheeky grin spread across the shadowy face and he released his grip on the ceiling, he pounced on the unaware shinobi.

Kenshin looked up when he heard a rattle and was face to face with his assaulter. He was forced to dodge as the attacker landed with a powerful blow where he had been. A blue ball was formed in the assailant's hand and he charged for Kenshin, who parried the blow and immediately swept his leg to trip his opponent. The ninja stumbled, flipped and was on his feet again, only to meet with the small, ignited package of a smoke bomb.

Kenshin caught him in the gut and leveled him. He then flipped on the lights and laughed at the very surprised face of the Hokage.

"Not bad Hokage-sama, but the Rasengan gave you away." Kenshin smirked and sheathed his sabers. He then went over to help his mentor up from the ground.

Naruto chuckled. "Impressive my young pupil, but you let your guard down!" Naruto pulled him on to the floor and pinned him down like a cop. The young man was now in a helpless position with the older ninja on his back twisting his arm. Kenshin relented and sighed. "With you Uzumakis around, it's a whole new spectrum of pain. You keep catching me off guard. "Naruto laughed wholeheartedly and picked the ninja up and put him on his feet.

"I take it my daughter was a bit rough with you today?" Kenshin pointed to the small lump on his noggin and Naruto started giving him a noogie in that EXACT spot. "OWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOW. Sensei! That really hurts! Cut it out!" Kenshin struggled against his master's grip but to no avail.

"Hold still, this is an old remedy." Naruto kept rubbing at it until it started wearing away a little. When he was done, he relinquished his hold on the boy and patted him on the back. "There! All better, now you won't have proof that a girl kicked your butt." Naruto snickered at the look on his pupils face.

"Hey, what was I supposed to do?! Hit her?" Kenshin still rubbed the sore spot. He had to admit, it worked. He was grabbed roughly by the collar by his master.

"NO! That's the last thing you want to do, believe me. But the fact that you put up with it does my heart good. You're a good kid Kenshin, maybe she'll see that one day" He put his pupil down and dusted him off. "Now shall we eat? Smells Like the misses has quite a good dinner going."

Kenshin nodded, but froze when he saw a dark spot on the wall the size of a fist. When we parried the Rasengan, it must've breached a wall. That wall just happened to be the conjoining one to Fumiko's room. "Uh, sensei……" He gestured in the direction of the void and Naruto blanched. There was one thing that could still put fear into the Hokage, his wife in a rage over destruction to their house. "Not a word to the women-folk or we'll be running or our lives before dinner ends."

Kenshin shook his head and sighed. "Yes sir, but my guess is they'll get it out of one of us." Naruto struck a pensive pose for a moment and snapped his fingers. "I'll lead them off with shadow clones of the two of us, it's brilliant!" Satisfied with the idea the two departed the study, down the stair and into the kitchen.

"Naruto honey, is everything all right?" Sakura caught them as soon as they entered the kitchen. The Hokage stopped only for a split second. "Just fine dear, I was teaching Kenshin some new moves." Naruto gestured at the younger ninja and they sat with Kenshin next to Fumiko and Naruto next to Sakura's seat. As he was sitting Kenshin noticed a quizzical look on Fumiko's face, and felt a tad nervous.

"What is that look for?" She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "The new moves? I wasn't aware dad trained in his study." Kenshin smiled. "Wasn't so much training as him ambushing me in the dark."

Fumiko rolled her eyes. "If I find any sword damage to my room, I'm hunting you down."His smile lessened to a smirk. "Of course there's no sword damage to your room, of that you can be certain."

She narrowed her eyes. "How about OTHER damage?" she reared her fist back and her voice had an edge to it. He turned to her and winked. "Now now, not in front of your parents, they think I'm a nice boy."

She scoffed. "If only they knew what a klutz you could be." He chuckled. "Don't make me klutz ramen into your face tonight."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." This actually caused Fumiko to stop threatening him and he sighed in relief. _I'm so glad that bluff worked._ Kenshin reclined as Sakura sat down with a huge pot of delicious smelling Ramen. The family started digging in with Sakura telling Naruto to go last, even smacking away his hand to remind him of his manners.

Kenshin snickered at this exchange until Fumiko did the same thing. "Ladies first Ken, mind your manners." She playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"Aw, that's just mean Fumiko, let the poor boy eat. After all, you did give him a nasty bump on his head today."Sakura reprimanded her daughter. The younger woman grumbled and did as she was told.

Kenshin whispered. "Not my fault you can't keep your temper in check, hehe." She just kicked him under the table. "Ouch!" Kenshin bit back the brunt of the exclamation.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I took my patented remedy to Ken's head, it seemed to work." Fumiko tapped the ninja's head. "I don't know dad, I don't think you got all the foolishness out."

Ken just huffed and then laughed along with the family. The rest of the night passed with pleasant conversation and some funny stories on Naruto's part, of course, it's to be expected with the former number one knuckleheaded ninja.

The clock dinged midnight and the dinner was long done, Kenshin looked at the time and chose to excuse himself. "Well thank you Uzumakis for another wonderful time, but I really have to be going home. " He bowed respectfully and picked up his plates, put them in the sink, picked up his stuff and headed for the door.

Sakura intercepted him and gave him a hug. "You can't leave without a proper goodbye Ken. I'm glad you joined us and I hope you enjoyed it."

He nodded and smiled. "Very much so Mrs. Uzumaki, it's nice to know you people treat me like family." She smiled sweetly at him and hugged him again. "You're welcome any time."

Naruto passed by and patted him on the head. "Nice to see you again, Kenshin, you should come around more often. By the way, training at 6 AM tomorrow morning, so go get some sleep." He smiled at his apprentice's reaction and continued on his way upstairs.

He rolled his eyes."Gee, thanks a lot sensei. I'll be there." Kenshin groaned at getting up at 5 AM but was consoled by the fact that it was training. "OK thanks again for the dinner, and I'll see you tomorrow right Fumiko?"

"Yeah, sure, can't let you get a leg up on me now can I? I'll be around your place to vault you out of bed." She snickered.

"Wonderful, it'll be the highlight of my day." Kenshin deadpanned and proceeded to go out of the door.

Unknown to him, Sakura eyed Fumiko and the younger woman sighed. "I know mom, I know."

"Hey Kenshin wait up!" He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and was suddenly thrown for a loop when she embraced him. "Thanks for putting up with me today."

He was hard-pressed to come up with a coherent reaction, but managed to hug back. "No problem."

She ran back up the stairs as quickly as she'd come. "Later."

"Later." He mounted the first rooftop, but hesitated. For some reason, that hug made his heart flutter. He thought not about why he felt that way but focused on how he felt. He then dashed off home, not noticing the figure watching from a distance. Kei had dropped by the area on patrol and caught the last little exchange, which he noted with amusement.

"Well this'll be a fun mission tomorrow, I have some entertainment!" He hopped off to resume and kept smiling. "Maybe there'll even be some peace and quiet." He laughed. "Fat chance with those two around, but at least there may be a little less explosions."

Night engulfed Konoha and the residents slept peacefully for another night. However there was trouble brewing in the ninja world.

* * *

Currently in the land of lightning, a dark-skinned, dreadlocked, and brown-eyed ninja, clad in a navy outfit was pouring over a map in the rain, unfortunately he had no shelter as he had left his home village.

_Just my luck to leave during a thunderstorm, well, I suppose I have to get moving regardless. Now let's see…….where am I taking off to?_

His fingers lingered over the large map and his gaze hovered on the land of fire.

_Bingo, I think we've found a winner here, I'm off to Konoha! Hmm, I hope there are some sexy kunoichis there._

He smirked slyly to himself and then picked up base camp. He was then running through the mountains and avoiding all the torrential downpours brought on by the angry sky.

_I'll have to be careful, I'm not sure if I should cut through the former land of sound, a lot of bad blood in that area, it's a warzone, but I'll definitely hit the river and the valley at the end._

The young ninja, whose name was Raven, cut through at the speed of lightning. He arrived at the land's border and paused if only for a moment.

15 years old was not an ideal age to be in enemy territory alone, but he forged on. Through trees and rain and wilderness, all of those uncomfortable things he'd gone through, he's just made it to the border short of midnight and the rain had stopped.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Well thank goodness for that, my head was getting heavy with all the water in my hair." He proceeded to ring out his dreadlocks and then shook his head in a ridiculous display akin to a dog shaking water out of its fur. (I'm having too much fun.)

Raven camped for a few hours, recently having experienced some insomniac tendencies and he was sure he wasn't getting to sleep in the middle of the wilderness in possible enemy territory. He ate what little he had, some roasted chicken which he'd roasted with his lightning jutsu. "This chicken is damn tasty, shame it couldn't just come along quietly."

Raven then took out a thermos full of hot chocolate. "Bottoms up! Mmmmmmmm, that's great hot chocolate if I do say so myself. My Compliments to the chef, of course haha." He then packed his small gear back up and kept going, if he was fast enough he'd be at the valley of the end by morning.

_Lucky I don't have to sleep or else this would be a real pain in the ass. I think I'll just crash when I get there, assuming I can find a nice place to stay, I am a rogue ninja now, hmmm. Maybe this might be harder than I thought._

He continued across plains and rivers, uneventful really because travelling by night through a country without a ninja village can be really boring. He stopped for sleep when he hit the river.

* * *

At the same time in land of rock. An emerald clad ninja was currently trekking out of his own village. Sandy hair, well-built frame, blue-grey eyes, looks of a man fitting of the earth element. He carried an abnormally large claymore on his back.

What was even more unusual was that the claymore was made of graphite. Quite unusual but considering he was a ninja of the earth, maybe not so much. Making something out of your given element was just good thinking.

He grunted and took a look back at his village. "Something's wrong in this country, possibly even this world, and I have to get to the bottom of it."

He gripped his sword, tugged his headband taught and started off toward fire country. If there was anyone that was still with the purest intentions for ninjas left in his thoughts, it was Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's Hokage.

"He'll know what to do, and maybe even give me a few good ninja to rectify these scandals going on behind closed doors. The honor of Iwa has been sullied and I will not rest until it has been restored!"

He had much land to cross, but would soon reach the borders of the land of rock. He whipped out his map and took a look. "Hmm, looks like the best way is to skirt the border of grass and waterfall until I enter the land of fire and then straight to Konoha." He dashed off as fast as the sword would allow.

"Hopefully I can catch the border of those two countries free of conflict, even with all the peacefulness between countries, there's still some petty squabbles that erupt on the borders. I have to keep in mind that this is for Iwa, I can't let anything stand in my way. Look out Konoha here comes Sanosuke Kazeyama!"

* * *

SO what did you think?! I liked it personally, but I always value input, so R&R and help me be better for both stories if you like them ok? laters!


	2. The Nature of Friendships

OK! so this is chapter two in my hopefully illustrious new story, I really enjoy writing it and I'll keep this up with a good amount of regularity. As for the digital sword, well, tell you the truth, I've looked at it, and, being my own biggest critic, I think the story needs a MASSIVE re-tooling, so, that'll get done progressively, bear with me, for now, enjoy the story, and as always, Naruto doesn't belong to me. Only the OC's in this story do. On another note, major thanks to my first favoriter sher162252, special shout-out for liking the story and I hope you like the new chapter!

Elements of Order

The Nature of Friendships

Kenshin arrived at his home and quickly dropped his stuff off, brought in the mail and ran himself a shower. Standing in the steaming water he let a sigh leave his body as it relaxed and the soreness was soothed. He started replaying the events of the day in his head and when he got to the altercation with the Hokage, he unconsciously felt his arm and made sure it was whole. He chuckled to himself

_I really wasn't kidding when I said the Uzumakis brought new shades of pain. _

It was true that they visited all types of wrath on him, but he was honestly glad to have such a loving surrogate family. Naruto treated him like a son, Sakura acted like a mother and Fumiko, well, she was a special case.

_Always hitting me, calling me a klutz, I swear, there is just no pleasing that woman. Why did she just hug me like that today though, I only get that when I've done something amazing or given her a present._

Kenshin stopped mid-thought before taking a bit more time to reconsider his own question.

_That was a bit out of the ordinary, she doesn't normally just hug me out of the blue, but then again she is known to have her apologetic moments. I think she does it just so she can start torturing me fresh every now and again. Or maybe she actually does feel bad about giving me such a hard time. Who's to say, could it be both?_

He smiled and shook his head. He put off whatever thoughts were plaguing him, stepped out of the shower and threw on his pajamas. He dressed in a pair of shorts and t-shirt and went to lie on his bed. He pulled the covers over and ran a hand through his hair before staring at the ceiling.

_Seems like I've been screwing up a lot recently, well not a lot, but I did feel bad about letting that bomb go off in her face. I could swear I almost saw her sniffle before she gave chase._

He turned his head over to where he left his equipment and scolded himself.

_I'm supposed to protect the ones I care about, not carelessly let my weapons explode in their faces. She seemed pretty mad at that, but I've never known her to be THAT mad over a little bomb. Maybe I should be the one to truly apologize. After all, under that tough and pain-inducing exterior, Fumiko has feelings._

He arose and walked to his window, looking up at the full moon he just reminisced a bit.

_Well dad, what should I do?_

_

* * *

  
_

The next morning…………………

Fumiko jumped on the rooftops on a beautiful, clear and sunny morning. She saw the sun peeking out from the cover of night and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She was sweating a little bit, but the coolness of the dewy morning kept her body temperature in check.

She turned the corner and jumped across the street, nearing her teammates' house. _I hope he's not too cranky this morning, that Kenshin can be such a grouch sometimes._

She brushed this thought off as she vaulted off of the last roof and grabbed onto a streetlight, swinging for momentum and then landing on the windowsill. She peeked inside and saw a lump under the red sheets. She rolled her eyes. "This boy and his life-long love affair with red, it's almost ridiculous." She was completely oblivious to the irony of her statement, she herself was dressed in pink and black for the majority of her training and social life.

Fumiko crept up to the side of the bed and yanked off the covers while screaming. "RISE AND SHINE!" She fell back and yelped when the covers came off easier than usual and she collided with a dresser eventually winding up with a pair of boxers on her head. She stared blankly at the mass of pillows in place of her teammate and then smelled the scent of bacon and eggs in the air.

Fumiko followed the scent into the kitchen, completely unaware of the dirty laundry on her head. As she entered the kitchen, she spotted her teammate near the stove monitoring the sizzling swine. She was about to sneak up on him and scare him to get some revenge before she simply heard, "Good morning, I take it you left my room in several pieces?"

She stared on bewildered before he turned around and cracked a smile at her. "Your father in his deepest snore-fest could have heard you trying to wake me up." He laughed at her confusion before setting his eyes on her offending headwear and blanching.

"What?" Fumiko followed his gaze up with her own and found herself staring up the leg of a black pair of boxers sitting in a heap on her head. Kenshin snatched it off of her head and threw it into the laundry hamper in the bathroom which was an impressive throw from the kitchen across the hall.

"What the hell Kenshin?! Why don't you clean up once in a while?!" She gripped an empty frying pan from the counter and moved to bang on the shinobi, but he held out a plate of bacon, eggs and toast under her nose.

"Hey, I cooked you breakfast. AND you were also the one who was sneaking around in my room." He eyed her expectantly. Fumiko sighed and relinquished her hold on the pan. "I suppose you're right, now stop cowering in the corner and help me eat this fabulous breakfast. We have to get to the training grounds in half hour."

Kenshin had unknowingly grabbed a pot cover and was using it as a shield to defend against the temperamental kunoichi. "Uh, yeah sure heh. Now can we please get through the day without you chasing me around and threatening to thump me to the other side of the world?"

Fumiko swallowed a mouthful of toast and shrugged. "I don't know, can you keep from being a klutz or a jerk or doing something stupid in some way?"

Kenshin opened his mouth to say something indignantly but paused. "Look I'm sorry about yesterday, but accidents happen on this job. We're ninjas, we should be glad it was just training. For what it's worth, I'd never hurt you on purpose." He looked at her expecting some kind of rebuttal, but received a surprise.

She actually looked a bit touched at this revelation and then flashed him a genuine smile. "I know that, you goofball. With you and Kei as my teammates, I can feel safe."

He returned the smile with full force and proceeded to scarf down his eggs. The rest of breakfast passed without much incident; that is until there was the sound of someone landing on the kitchen window. "Well isn't this cozy? You two patch up your little spat from yesterday?"

The two looked up and were greeted by Kei, who had a smirk playing on his face. "What are you doing around here Kei? Don't you have a life?" Kenshin thought it was never too early to get a start on his little rivalry with Kei.

The Raven-haired ninja just fixed him with an even stare before he deadpanned in response. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you. I just wanted to investigate the disturbance in your room, I thought you'd tripped on your own mess again and wanted to start off my morning with a laugh."

Fumiko giggled at the antics of the two, they amused her to no end sometimes. "Hey guys come on; it's too early for this." She turned to Kenshin.

"Kenshin we got to get to training with dad. Kei, go patrol or something, we'll see you in the afternoon."

Kenshin glanced at the turtle clock on his wall and it was nearing 10 to 6. "Oh, you're right, we've got to get going." He cleaned up the plates and then started leaving through the door with Fumiko in tow. "Beat you later Kei!"

Kei laughed. "In your dreams bandana boy." The two then set off toward the training grounds as Kei set off to survey the village, he just perched on a building and brooded for a little while.

Over the rooftops the two sped and fell into pace. "Bandana boy?! Real original, the guy just gets on my nerves sometimes." Kenshin muttered, visibly irritated.

Fumiko met his gaze and shook her head. "Then why do you let him get to you? It's easier to just not care what he says."

Kenshin nodded. "That maybe so, but you know that's not my style. Would you rather I acted like him?" He gave her a sly smile and they both landed in the training ground at the same time.

She turned and put a hand on her hip. "No I suppose I wouldn't, but just try to calm down a little ok?"

He smirked. "This coming from you, it's irony to the max. Although, I admit neither one of us can talk."

She thought for a minute then agreed. "You have a point. Now where's dad? Let's get this show on the road!"

Kenshin looked at his watch and it hit 6 on the dot as soon as he did so. As if by magic, the wind picked up and a storm of leaves ran through the grounds. When it subsided, there stood Naruto and an older Yamato.

The Hokage beamed. "Good Morning Students!" This was little louder than cared for in the early morning for ALL of his fellow ninja, but Yamato simply waved at the young ninja."Yes, hello Fumiko, Kenshin. I trust all is well."

They both bowed. "Good Morning sensei." They said in unison before standing at attention awaiting training.

The Hokage paced and began his lecture. "Today, we'll start off training with individual drills. Now since Kenshin received training last night, I'll take over Fumiko for the first hour." The two nodded and the groups split up and took half the field a piece.

Yamato paced in front of his charge. "Have anything in particular you would like to work on at the moment?" Kenshin pondered for a second. "Hmm, let's go with the bomb seals, like glue and shurikens."

Yamato nodded, anything where he didn't have to deal with hand-to-hand combat in early morning was good for him. "All right then, first, we'll test your speed in concocting and sealing one. And……go!"

Kenshin started off as soon as he was given the word, unstrapped the scroll belt, and laid it out. He took a casing made of canvas, filled it with Kunai and Shuriken, and stuck in a fine, black, explosive powder. He made a seal and the whole container glowed and compressed into the size of a fist, effectively rendering it, a conventional grenade. Kenshin then made another seal sign and it was put into his belt scroll. You see, in the 25 years that followed the end of Naruto's adventure, new technology, such as the powder Ken uses, has been created. The belt scroll is one of them, no longer is it necessary to carry a very cumbersome scroll around for access to items, one could simply hook a belt scroll around themselves and immediately pop out whatever they needed, allowing for combat flexibility.

Yamato clicked the stopwatch and whistled. "Just a hair under a minute, not bad kid." Kenshin beamed at his approval. "Now, for the glue compound. And………GO!"

Kenshin's hands went into a flurry again, pulling out vials and flasks, mainly containing mixing ingredients for basic glue, but also a strong epoxy and other bonding agents, making a very sticky mixture which he sealed and sealed again. Yamato once again clicked the stopwatch and looked a bit disappointed. "That was a bit slower, edging toward two minutes there Ken."

Kenshin scratched his head. "I did everything as fast as I could."

Yamato shrugged."Maybe it was the mixing that takes too long, can't you carry pre-mixed batches?"

Kenshin shook his head. "The fresher the ingredients, the stronger the glue. I could only possibly mix halves and keep them stored."

Yamato pondered. Well Kenshin certainly couldn't just go into situations without supplies to get himself out of trouble if he ran out of pre-made and sealed bombs. He nodded. "Do so, that might be the half minute you need for something crucial."

Kenshin nodded." Yes Sensei." He stored his pack on his back, but took a note down before he cleaned up.

Yamato summoned a wooden staff from the earth and stomped it on the ground in a challenge. "Now for some combat drills, you can't just rely on bombs and tricks and grenades to help you."

The staff, which was a shining white, was made of wax wood, some of the strongest material available. Kenshin drew his sabers and bowed to show respect. The two charged and Yamato brought down the staff in an arc, aiming for the ninja's head. Kenshin crossed his blades and blocked and twirled around, slashing and aiming for his teacher's gut. This was met with a staff block, although the blade bit deeply into the wood. Momentarily assuming he had the upper hand, Kenshin was dismayed to feel the saber yanked from his grasp and flung into the trees beside him.

Kenshin received the butt end of the staff in the chest and was sent sprawling. Rolling backwards to his feet, he concentrated his chakra into his palm and invoked the flaming hand jutsu. He dashed to close the distance and wound up to slash again as Yamato moved to catch the blade in his staff again. However, the teacher was surprised to see the young ninja check the swing and fling his hand at the impact point. Kenshin roared as he intensified the flames and, gripping the staff with his flaming hand, gave it a sharp yank while bringing his saber in a vicious back blow. Caught totally off guard, Yamato could only watch as his staff snapped under the strain of their grips, the fire damage and the metal blade. Not losing any momentum, Kenshin spun with his weapon and launched a spinning back kick, catching his sensei dead in the chest and sending him flying back.

Yamato landed and back-flipped to recover before nodding to his charge. "That was resourceful Kenshin, your fire is a great asset to you it seems."

Kenshin retracted the flame and bowed. "Thank you sensei, I can't lose my sabers like that though. I could be in deep trouble if I let that happen." Yamato patted him on the back. "Rightfully said Ken, that blade could be the difference between life and death."

Kenshin nodded and looked almost expectedly at his trainer. "Any tips?" Yamato once again visibly pondered before he shook his head. "Unless you want flaming sabers, I can't help you."

This piqued the youth's interest."Flaming sabers?!" He and nodded vigorously. Yamato shook his head. "Not with this type of metal Kenshin, these sabers are common steel, you need a special material that conducts chakra."

Kenshin looked downtrodden, if he could, he would acquire special swords. "I'm too broke to afford something like that."

Yamato would have opened his mouth, but saw Naruto eyeing him across the field. The Hokage shook his head and Yamato sighed. "It'll be all right, one day Kenshin, it'll happen."

The youth grinned and got to his feet. "Thanks sensei, I feel much better now. I promise not to lose my sabers."*beep beep* Yamato looked at his watch and whistled to the Hokage."Time to switch Hokage-sama."

Kenshin followed his gaze and looked over to the area the Hokage and his daughter had been training in, and immediately dropped his jaw. Ground torn asunder, rasengan marks all over the place. Father and daughter were scratched up severely and both were panting. Their eyes kept a lock on one another until Yamato whistled again. Naruto looked up and scratched his head in embarrassment. "That time already huh?"

Kenshin shook his head. "Sensei, you're incorrigible. You too Fumiko, that monster strength is ridiculous."

She huffed and walked over to Yamato, but not before punching Kenshin in the gut in the process."HAUGHF! What did I say?"

Naruto face-palmed and Yamato just blanched. Fumiko, like her mother, was impossible to predict when angry.

Kenshin limped his way to the Hokage's side. "What did I do this time?"

"She thinks you called her a monster." Naruto whispered as low as he could to avoid fanning the violence.

Kenshin stopped in his tracks before looking back at her. She had her back turned to him so he couldn't see the disappointed look on her face as she challenged Yamato to a sparring contest.

"Yamato-taichou! You and me right now, I want to do nothing but spar." Yamato complied and they began an intense match.

Kenshin flinched at the edge in her voice and looked up at the sky. "I just can't win can I?"

Naruto shook his head. "Just let her work it off, going near her now would be asking for a quick end."

Kenshin swallowed and nodded. "Ok sensei, but for now, I'd like to work on Rasengan training."

Naruto smiled."You love that don't you?"

His pupil nodded and readied the jutsu. "I love the simplicity but effectiveness."

The Hokage chuckled."How do you think I learned to master it?"

Kenshin rolled his eyes."Of course sensei. Now that I've got the basic one down, I'd like to learn the elemental release!"

Naruto eyed the shinobi curiously. "If you've nailed the first one, let's see you counter mine!"

Naruto rushed him with a Rasengan in hand and Kenshin charged with his own. The two collided and for a few seconds or so, there was nothing but immense grinding force against both of their palms, each struggling to maintain their own jutsu, Naruto keeping it at the same level and Kenshin trying to strengthen his. Kenshin kept pouring chakra into his, as much as he could to keep up with his mentor's mass amounts going into his own.

Kenshin knew the only thing that could end the stalemate and save his chakra reserves was attempting the elemental release. He brought up his free left hand and poured in flame chakra from it, but was only rewarded by dispersing flames from the force of the attacks.

Naruto grinned and pressed the charge. "Come on! If you think you can do it, then do it!"

Kenshin had to crouch for better balance and exerted his body to not give way. He concentrated a bit more, trying to keep the jutsu going and pour in flame from the inside, which was more difficult than it sounded. He had average chakra control but it was still better than an early Naruto's. He almost felt the jutsu dissipate, but mentally and physically pushed his limits. Soon, amid the shell and swirling vortex in his palm, there was a faint red-orange glow that grew brighter and brighter, soon the whole rasengan was glowing brightly. Faster and hotter it became, soon it was overtaking Naruto's. Kenshin however, could not maintain his concentration as he was straining everything simply to keep it all together.

In a moment of weakness, he lost control and both jutsu exploded with great force, repelling the two ninjas in opposite directions. Naruto landed on his feet, but Kenshin rammed into a tree not too far behind him. The sound distracted Yamato, who had been forced on the defensive long ago by Fumiko, and she punished him for it. She came into contact with his face and with great force struck him into the ground. "Too slow sensei!"

Yamato groaned and clamored out of the crater the kunoichi had forced his body to form, and promptly lied down on the ground. He was thoroughly exhausted and his face was bleeding badly. Fumiko studied him closely before compassion overtook her and she came to her sense. "Oh Kami, I'm so sorry! Yamato-taichou please let me heal you!"

Yamato nodded and closed his eyes before giving her a pained smile. "I'm glad you stopped before you caused any serious harm." Fumiko, thoroughly ashamed, knelt down and placed her hands over his cheek before applying her medical expertise and repairing the damage she'd done.

She let a few tears escape as she finished. _I am a monster. I could have seriously hurt Yamato-taichou. _Once she was finished she leaned over him and said. "I'm sorry sensei, I guess I really am a monster!"

She started crying and ran away from the training grounds as fast as she could, not hearing Yamato's cries of "Wait Fumiko!"

While all of this happened, Kenshin had picked himself out of the rubble and went over to his surprised mentor."Y-y-y-y-you did it!" Naruto stammered out, a mixture of shock and pride evident in his features.

Kenshin smiled weakly. "Just barely, I almost blew us half to hell with that one." Naruto patted him on the back. "Not bad kid, just got to learn some better control, although, fighting another rasengan probably didn't help." He chuckled and dusted off the younger ninjas shoulders.

The two stood like that for a moment until they heard a "Wait Fumiko!" and turned in time to see the young woman run out of the training ground in tears. The two tried to catch her, but she blew past them with ease.

Naruto and Kenshin looked at each other with concern before The Hokage called to Yamato. "What happened?!"

Yamato ran up to them, as best he could with the fatigue he had incurred. "She walloped me in the face with all her might and then healed me afterward. She said she was a monster and just ran out of here!"

Naruto eyed Kenshin. "I knew this was going to be trouble, I'll go talk to her."

Kenshin put a hand on his shoulder."No Hokage-sama, let me. This is my mistake, and I have to clean it up."

Kenshin sped off without another word.

The two older shinobi just stared on. Yamato was the first to speak up. "Brave guy, she could be in a very violent mood when they meet up."

Naruto nodded. "She very well could be, but as long as they've known each other, I have never seen her in such a serious mood that he couldn't bring her out of without harm. No matter how bad it got, he calmed her down and he did it while staying in one piece. I swear that kid's a miracle worker. I couldn't do anything of that magnitude with Sakura; I never escaped without a bruise."

Yamato whistled, impressed. "Oh, then I guess everything will be fine, but I think training's over for today. Wouldn't you agree Hokage-sama?"

Naruto looked at his watch and nodded. "Yes Yamato, thank you for your assistance, you are dismissed."

Yamato bowed. "Until we meet again, Hokage-sama." He vanished in a puff of smoke and Naruto simply strolled off of the scarred training ground. He loved taking walks among the people of the village. He had become so adored and idolized that sometimes he couldn't help but bask in the loving acceptance that had evaded him for so long.

My village, my people, my home, he thought. This is what it is like to be truly happy…

* * *

Meanwhile, with our two favorite ninjas…..

Fumiko raced through the streets, tears blurring her vision, not even caring where she wound up, she just wanted to get away. She had to wipe her eyes on occasion to see, and she caught glances and questions from passers-by, but she couldn't care less. She wound up in a secluded area of the village, more accurately, near the fire monument among the graves.

She tripped over a grave and rolled onto the base of the monument, landing smack dab in the center. There she continued to sob, pulling her knees up to her chest and burying her face in them.

She heard a faint "Fumiko! Where are you?" lifted above the gravestones, but didn't want to look up and see the owner's voice. She heard footsteps and tightened her position, determined not to face him.

"Fumiko…" Kenshin carefully approached her and said her name softly. "Fumiko, are you ok?" he bit his lip, knowing the answer but not knowing what else to say.

"Do I look like I'm ok?" came the muffled answer. Kenshin sighed and kneeled down in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder, she flinched. "Don't touch me, I'm a monster."She heard him sigh again and heard some rustling and clanking. She peaked for the slightest second to see him removing and tossing his gear and weapons.

"Would I do that if I thought you were a monster?" He was standing over her now looking at her sadly, eyes that pleaded for her to listen.

She buried her face even deeper. "I don't know, you don't always do the smartest things ken."

He smiled and then laughed a little, taking a seat next to her, leaning up against the memorial. He put an arm around her. She curled up a little more, not wanting to seem too vulnerable.

Kenshin knew at this point, that he was skirting the edge. He had to make sure that physical contact was maintained in case she wanted to run. "I know that…..some statements were made….statements that should have been rethought. I wasn't calling you a monster, I was just describing the amount of strength you had."

She made no moves. "Did you really have to use monster? I'm sure you know the stories of how my father was treated."

Kenshin gulped, He had almost forgotten about his mentor's pain and struggle. He gripped a bit firmer and hugged her as best he could in their position. He felt her stiffen and then relax. "Hey come on now, this is us we're dealing with here. We both know I slip up sometimes and I'm sorry."

At this she uncurled a little. And he was able to meet her deep blue eyes with his vibrant hazel. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tears and there were still some lingering on her cheeks, but he brushed them off. "Do you really think I'm amazing?" She sounded so unsure of herself at the moment that Kenshin was nervous to drag the discussion out.

"Of course and I'd never do anything to hurt my best friend. Stuff may happen between us every day, but at the end of the day, we're still friends."She fully unfurled and leaned back on his arm and the impressive red flame structure, hand over her arm in nervous fashion.

"It's ok Ken. Somehow I knew you didn't mean it, but deep down it got to me. Just remember it next time ok? Or else, it could turn ugly."They both smiled and got to their feet.

Kenshin was reluctant to release her for reasons he couldn't understand, so he actually hugged her warmly and she returned it. "Feel better?"

They separated and Kenshin grabbed his stuff."Much."She was smiling widely at him.

"Great, now, if I'm correct, we've got to meet Kakashi and Kei soon. " Fumiko glanced at her watch and confirmed the time. "Yeah, let's get going, can't keep that antagonistic pretty boy waiting."

"Hey I resent that!" They both turned to see Kei not far off in the cemetery, again, smirking, in fact, almost smiling.

Kenshin looked incensed. "How long have you been there?"

Kei just looked around nonchalantly, but beckoned for them to follow him and they complied before he answered. "Oh you know. I like to people-watch, a running, crying Fumiko kind of gathers attention."

Kenshin didn't like that answer. "I'd appreciate it if you kept this under wraps. This is a sensitive issue."

They both looked back at Fumiko but she seemed unresponsive, eyes downcast as if she were ashamed.

_Fumiko, that monster strength is ridiculous._

Kenshin almost turned back to match her pace but Kei shook his head. "Not right now man, you've done well enough to get her to feel better, but she's still not exactly happy."

Kenshin grimaced. "Agreed, so why don't we just shut up about it?"

Kei flicked him on the forehead and ran to avoid retaliation. "My thoughts exactly."

Kenshin sped up to follow him. _He's either trying to make her feel better by messing with me or he really needs a whooping_

"Get back hear you damn jerk!"

Kei simply blew him a raspberry and accelerated even more. Kenshin glanced quickly back and noted a smile on Fumiko's face, which was good enough for him. This however, distracted him long enough for him to miss the fact that he had run out of jumping area.

Kei had sped them to the meeting place on the bridge, which Kakashi preferred. Kenshin had not paid attention to where they were going and wound up jumping into the river. "What the hell?! AUGHHHHH!"

*SPLASH*

Fumiko landed and immediately inspected over the side of the bridge to see if he was alright. She waited for a minute, then two, but saw no sign of her friend and grew worried. "Kei! Where'd he go?"

The white-clad ninja leaned over the other side, but didn't notice a dripping wet, mischievous Kenshin behind him. Fumiko Turned around and was about to yell at him before Kenshin shushed her. Kei felt something sinister behind him, but didn't turn around in time before he was flipped head first into the river.

"That was for this morning!" Kenshin had tied a rope around his friend's ankle to pull him out but would wait a few minutes to do so.

Fumiko couldn't stop laughing. "That was excellent." They high-fived and watched him splutter around a little.

"KENSHIN! I'm going to get you for this one you loser!" Kei struggled and tried to take one of his swords and cut the rope, but kept missing because Kenshin was moving it around trying to prolong the punishment.

Kakashi landed on the top of the bridge and analyzed this very odd scene. Kenshin and Fumiko were standing next to each other just laughing at the water. "Hey guys what's going on?" They both looked at him and then at Kenshin's watch. "YOU'RE LATE!" the force of the yell almost knocked the copy-nin off his perch, but he simply jumped down.

Kakashi sighed; this was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

Did you enjoy it? please, as always R+R to help me write better for you people K? later!


	3. Fire vs Water, Earth vs Lightning

* * *

Alright! Chapter 3 is up, chapter 4 is on the way. As always, see previous chapters for the disclaimer. Update on the other story, It's getting done people, lol, I'm serious. I obviously have other stuff to take care of, but this story will get fairly regular updates as will the other one once I've revamped the first six chapters. There's been a HUGE jump from story to story in quality I think and, the readers deserve a bit better. Enjoy this chapter, as always, read and review, the reviews help guys, thanks

Elements of order

Fire vs. Water, Earth vs. Lightning

Kakashi sighed and pulled a very soaked Kei out from the river, the former glaring daggers at his snickering teammates. "I thought we'd gotten past this immaturity already, CHILDREN." The three bristled and Kei split his glares between Kenshin and Kakashi.

Kenshin wrung out his bandana and shook his head, beads of water flying off the ends of his matted spikes. The water sprinkled all the ninjas surrounding with protest from the Kunoichi. "Hey watch who you're getting wet, I had no part in this!"

Kenshin grinned devilishly and stared menacingly at her. Noticing her teammates look she steeled her gaze and pointed a warning finger at him. "You wouldn't dare!"

Kenshin nodded, but Kakashi cleared his throat, regaining the team's attention. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Anyways, today we'll be doing something out of the ordinary for our mission."

Kei, who was still busy wringing out his long and dripping spikes, was curious. "Like I asked last night, what do you mean by that? And don't dodge the question this time……" He fixated his sapphire eyes on Kakashi's black one, hell-bent on pressing the subject.

Kakashi shrugged and relented. "Alright, if you're so impatient to know, The Hokage has seen fit to give us an A-rank mission to patrol the border near the valley at the end." An expression of shock made its way across the faces of his pupils.

"The valley at the end?! But that's where…." Kenshin couldn't bring himself to continue. Kakashi nodded. "Yes, that's where the Hokage fought one of my former pupils, more than once in fact, however the second time around ended in tragedy." He tugged his headband a bit lower out of habit.

Fumiko nodded, taking all of this information in gradually. "But why does my father want us to go there? And why is it an A-rank mission?"

Kakashi sighed, these kids were so suspicious. "The Hokage has received reports of conflicts along the border and unrest in other nations; we have to inspect the area to make sure there's no threat of attack. Does that answer your question Kei?"

Kei nodded and adjusted his gauntlets. Kenshin secured all his gear, before interrupting the rustling silence. "When do we leave sensei…….?"

Kakashi turned and looked to the north for a few seconds. Without turning to face his student, he answered. "Immediately, are you all ready?"

A chorus of "Yes Sensei!" echoed on the river and the four marched to the city gates. An aged Kotetsu and Izumo were sitting near the gate with bored looks on their faces. Kotetsu had stared at the same spot he stared at a million hours before and found himself steadily closing his eyes until he heard footsteps. He lazily looked over but snapped to attention when he saw Kakashi. "Kakashi-san; what a surprise!"

Kakashi chuckled and waved off the formality. "Hello Kotetsu, Izumo, just taking the team out for a mission."

Izumo nodded. "It should serve them well, I haven't actually seen your team leave the village too often, in fact, these are still genin aren't they?"

Kenshin was outraged. "Genin or not, I'd still whip your ass!" Fumiko restrained him and Kei knocked him on the head with an "Idiot…"

This made the two chunin snicker. Kotetsu waved it off. "Looks like you got your hands full Kakashi, this one's got the Hokage's old attitude, which leaves me to guess about the other two."

Kei just crossed his arms and shrugged off the comment, but Fumiko tossed Kenshin back a little and then flexed her hand with a killer look in her eye, intimidating the two guards.

Izumo looked over to his visibly shaken partner and deadpanned. "You had to question them, didn't you?"

Kakashi sweat-dropped and Kenshin grinned at the two ninjas. Kakashi then patted Fumiko on the head and started walking out of the gate. "We'd better get out of your hair before we cause you anymore problems."

The two nodded nervously as the rest of the team followed Kakashi out, Fumiko blowing them a raspberry and Kenshin twirling a saber to stress their points, Kei simply muttered. "I'm surrounded by fools…." The team jumped into the foliage and was off in a matter of seconds.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "This much attitude simply exiting the village, can't you control yourselves?"

Kenshin simply pouted at the copy-nin. "Kakashi-sensei, they doubted my abilities, I HAD to show them something!"

Fumiko nodded. "Yeah, he's at least half right, who are they to talk about what we can do? My father was a genin for years until he managed to ascend the ranks. What do you think Kei?"

Kei looked back and shrugged. "Abilities don't need to be bragged about……I'd rather keep things up my sleeve."

Kakashi nodded. "See? He gets it. He doesn't feel the need to show off."

Kenshin scoffed. "Yeah right sensei, he just thinks he's so far above us he doesn't need to prove it, isn't that right Kei?"

Kei smirked and grabbed his teammate's wrist before flinging the shinobi over his shoulder down onto the forest floor far below. With a cry of shock and a loud thump, accompanied with a cloud of dust, Kenshin made a sizeable imprint on impact.

Fumiko, who had been leaping next to him, stopped on the branch directly above to see if he was alright. Kakashi and Kei, who had been ahead of them, stopped a little bit further with Kakashi casting a scornful eye at his pupil.

Kei shrugged. "I owed him for tossing me in the river, it's not my fault he doesn't pay attention."

Fumiko coughed a bit and waved her hand around trying to clear the dust, the only thing she could discern was the groaning of a winded Kenshin. "Hey are you alright down there?" She peered over the branch but still couldn't clear the air.

Kenshin was on his back simply staring up at the vibrant green canopy, coughing up some dust and slowly taking into account the pain seeping into his body. "Damn Kei!" He managed to get out through gritted teeth. He slowly rolled out of the pit and got to his feet.

"Ken?"He looked up and saw Fumiko looking back down at him with livid concern. He just gave her a thumbs-up. "I'm alright *cough* just a bit bruised." He jumped back up and kneeled next to her, staring quietly at Kei with a seething fury. "I'm letting that one slide."

Kei simply turned around and started on his way again. Kakashi's expression was stoic. "One more outburst like that and I'll have to do the one thousand years of death on you Kei, Kenshin."

Kei grimaced. "Alright sensei…… I guess I can stop kicking his butt." Kenshin simply mumbled and Fumiko shook her head disapprovingly. "Why can't you two just get along?" She wasn't paid much mind as the rest of the team started off.

After a few minutes of complete silence, Fumiko tapped Kenshin to ask him again. "Seriously, can't you two get along?"

Kenshin shrugged."We've gone over this. Our personalities are just way different. I don't know why he seems not to like me sometimes, but hey, his attitude just ticks me off sometimes too."

Fumiko wasn't satisfied with that. "Well why don't you try a peace offering?"

Kenshin was stumped; his face looked vacant for a good, long while, apparently trying to come up with an answer. "Well………………..uh, I….don't ….know."

Fumiko sweat-dropped. "You're telling me you honestly never thought of that?!" She was a little outraged and screamed that last bit in his ear.

Kenshin massaged his left ear, trying to recover some semblance of hearing back with an aggravated look on his face. "Why do you have to yell like that?! We live in a world of competition, it's healthy!"

Fumiko looked him dead in the eye and let out a low growl. "You immature, headstrong, chauvinistic……Ugh!"

She jumped ahead so furiously the last branch she hit was completely destroyed. She got ahead of Kakashi and Kei and then turned around to scream at her teammate. "Both of you!" Earning nothing more than a quizzical look from the silent ninja and a "Yeah whatever…."

Fumiko huffed and turned her back on them. "Men." She propelled herself even faster, however her zealousness destroyed many a branch more and her companions were hard pressed to find more in the right spots. Kakashi simply shook his head. _Such an emotional team we have here._ He looked at Kei and then corrected himself. _Except for him of course. _

Kakashi looked back at Kenshin, who simply shrugged at him with apparently no clue as to why she stormed off like that. "What did I say?!"

Kakashi sighed and increased his pace to catch up to the infuriated young woman. "You know, you really blow things out of proportion a lot." The two continued in silence for a bit longer.

"They're going to hurt each other one of these days sensei."She was still rather mad at that thought.

Kakashi thought for a moment but nodded. "While you may be right, this is the nature of teammates. They're not always going to get along, in fact many don't, take Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee."

"Who?"

Kakashi nodded. "Of course you know Neji as the co-head of the Hyuga family, along with Hinata, but Rock Lee has been travelling all over the world searching for more opponents to overcome. The last time he was in Konoha, you were an academy student I think."

Fumiko nodded, imploring Kakashi to continue.

"Well, Neji and Lee have opposing styles of fighting. Gentle fist and Strong fist styles respectively, which are opposites of their personalities. So, by that logic, Neji is very stern and Lee is very open with whatever they have to deal with. You see, it can also be applied in elemental terms, Kei has shown a knack for more water than wind. Kenshin has a fire affinity, so when looking at it elementally, they are polar opposites, however, that's where you come in."

Fumiko had been in a bit of a fog ever since Kakashi started but was called to attention when he mentioned her. "Me? What's so special about me?"

"Your father's wind-natured chakra was passed down to you, along with your mother's temperament. She also passed something else down to you; do you know what it is?"

Fumiko thought for a moment, but shook her head. "She passed down a lot to me sensei, but I doubt anything I'm going to name is what you're thinking of."

Kakashi looked shocked at the insight, but continued. "She passed down her spirit and compassion. You are a very integral part of the team in that both of your teammates need your support to get stronger."

There was a mixture of confusion and disbelief on her face. "Really how so?"

"In the same function that Kei is water and Kenshin is Fire, you are the sustaining wind. They drive each other to become stronger. While opposite, they hold a great respect for each other and consider the other one a great rival. However, strength cannot come from simply desiring and working to become better, you give them an extra push, a sympathetic ear. A tiny spark can become a bonfire through its own efforts, and raindrops collect to form great rivers over time, but what happens when you introduce the raw power of wind?"

"You'd think the fire would be put out and the rain would dry up right?" Fumiko was trying to keep up but Kakashi was known for being utterly confusing.

He shook his head. "That may happen under a cold and harsh wind, but under a warm and nurturing gale, they become mighty. The spark grows into an unquenchable inferno and the water combines to transform into a storm. So in this respect, you help them grow, and they add to you as well. On your own you can be strong, but add either and you gain an edge in power. So your growth benefits with their growth and vice versa do you see?"

Fumiko nodded. "So you're saying that I shouldn't be so hard on them? That they're just trying to get stronger by competing?"

Kakashi nodded. "That is the way of some teammates. You are welcome to try and keep the peace though, god knows I could use some help in my old age hehe." This brought on a smile from her but he heard two snickers behind him. Kakashi turned to see his other two pupils had caught up and were holding back full blown laughter. He sweat-dropped in embarrassment before a light when on in his head.

"That doesn't mean I can't deal with you whipper-snappers! Don't forget one thousand years of death!"

The two immediately went straight-faced. Like Yamato, Kakashi wasn't afraid to rule by fear when necessary. Meanwhile Fumiko was holding her sides in laughter from her teammates' behavior. "So will you two get along now?"

Kei simply gave her a "Not bloody likely…."

Kenshin scowled at him and responded. "I'm pretty sure that's a hell no."

Fumiko rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't talk to each other, but if you annoy me with this thing I'll wring your heads together."

Both of them grumbled irritably. "This woman's going to be the death of me." Stated Kenshin

"Only if I'm lucky" Said Kei, who then smirked at his own joke.

"I heard that." Kenshin's forehead was throbbing; all of this antagonism towards him was taking its toll. He saw them approaching the end of their journey, but noticed an apple tree right before the river banks. He smiled and drew on of his sabers out, making Kei put his guard up and ask "Whoa now, I thought we weren't going sword to sword?"

Kenshin scoffed. "Like you could, we both know I'm the better swordsman, but for now, relax." He cut down four apples and chucked two in from of Fumiko and Kakashi, who caught them and thanked the ninja. Kenshin then offered one to Kei. "As long as we're on the mission, truce?"

Kei considered this for a moment, but saw he was sincere so he nodded. "It would be unfortunate….. if one of us was to die from a lack of focus."

Kenshin rolled his eyed. "I guess that's the best I'm going to get isn't it?"

Kei took a bite from his apple and nodded, while Kenshin sweat-dropped. "You're impossible."

The group landed and Kakashi sniffed the air, cool, crisp and clean, he picked up no foreign scents in the air for now. "Hmm, looks like this range is clear, so, get some rest while we plan our next move."

The three pupils were only too happy to oblige, they'd come a long way in a short amount of time, which would put stress on anyone. Kenshin jumped into the closest tree and lay in its branches, surveying the landscape around them. Clear blue water, glints of emerald light adding a layer of beauty to the trees around them, birds singing, wind rustling the leaves and the occasional cicada letting out its buzzing call, wonderful. This was the farthest away from home that he'd been. So far, he loved every second of it.

Kei sat down and started unpacking whatever gear may have been needed. Fumiko simply took off her sandals, sat at the edge of the river bank and dipped her feet in, finishing her apple. "It's really peaceful out here isn't it?"

Kei strapped his armguards up. "It may look like it, but we wouldn't have been sent out here without reasonable cause. I'd keep my eyes open if I were you…."'

Fumiko pouted, that answer was a lot ruder than cared for. Kakashi shook his head."I'm going to have Pakkun do some scouting before we set up camp anywhere. By the way, we're splitting up into two teams to cover both sides of the valley."

This drew some attention from each of them. Kenshin pushed the bandana back off of his eyes and raise his head from his branch hammock. "So who's going with whom?"

Kakashi bit his thumb and made the boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram hand signs. He slammed his hand on the ground and a puff of smoke came and receded. The old pug raised his head and saluted the ninjas. "Yo guys, good to see you."

Fumiko squealed and Kenshin had to cover his ears whereas Kei simply looked annoyed with the sudden loud noise. "Pakkun! Oh come here, you're so cute!"

"WAAAAH!" *bam*.

Kenshin had covered his ears from the pitch of Fumiko's voice. Unfortunately, this had taken his hands off of the important task of balancing and he fell out of the tree quite painfully and with a resounding thud. This earned a groan from Kakashi another derogative term from Kei and almost no attention from Fumiko, who was busy playing with Pakkun's ears. Pakkun was simply enjoying the attention that was being lavished on him.

Kenshin groaned and picked himself up again, inspecting a good scrape on his hand from trying to grab the tree branch and on the other arm from landing. They were bleeding a little and he winced at the torn skin, but he was otherwise fine. Seeing that Fumiko was preoccupied, he took it upon himself to heal them and did the only thing he could do, he started burning the wounds closed.

With a bit of effort, he started leaking out the flame chakra in those areas of his body and winced a little bit in pain. "Ouch, jeez, that was a stupid thing to do." The wounds had burned closed and he went on about his business.

Kakashi stared on with mouth agape. While it was resourceful, the burning of wounds wasn't necessary with a medic-nin around! "Fumiko!"

She stopped playing with Pakkun, looking at Kakashi and wondering why she was being called out. "What?"

Kakashi pointed to Kenshin. "I don't think burning a wound closed is good common practice now-a-days is it?"

Fumiko followed her sensei's gaze and saw the fading burn marks before gasping. "Kenshin you moron! You shouldn't do that, you could get infected!"

He looked up from his rummaging through his equipment and his head dropped. "I thought I could get at least one hour before getting yelled at, bummer."

Fumiko looked at him sternly before yanking his arms away from his backpack. "*Tsk* just hold still."

Kei skipped a rock across the water but without looking back he said. "Baby."

Kenshin rose from Fumiko's grasp and was reaching for a saber. Fumiko got a hand on the one holding the sword, but he put it back on his own. "Hey man, I tried to just leave it be, so don't lecture me!"

Pakkun face-palmed. "Kakashi, these kids are out of hand." Kakashi shrugged. "I know that, that's why I'm sending Kei and Kenshin on their own and taking Fumiko with me."

The three went wide-eyed. Fumiko was the first to voice her opinion. "Are you kidding sensei? It'll be a bloodbath!"

Kakashi nodded. "Precisely." The campsite was dead silent, the wind blew and the leaves kicked up, No one protested.

Kei relented and grabbed his things. "We'll be fine….. nothing like a few character building hours with a doofus…."

Kenshin shot him a glare, but Kei was oblivious. Kenshin grabbed his own gear and his shoulders sagged a bit. "Oh fine, let's just get going, I suppose we'll be taking Pakkun with us?"

Kakashi smiled and nodded again. "Of course, he's your contact to me. He will tell me everything you two do though, so play nice!"

The two grumbled and stalked off toward the waterfall. Fumiko pouted, she wanted to play with Pakkun a little more, not to mention she was already worried. "Hey guys, come back safely!"

Before the two disappeared, Kenshin gave her a smile and salute before Kei dragged him off, waving as they left.

* * *

Meanwhile…..

Sanosuke had made it to his destination, for now, he rested at the foot of Hashirama Senju. He had his back up against the statue and his pack and sword next to him. "I shouldn't have thought that getting here in one night would be easy." He wheezed a bit. Crossing three lands with a large sword wouldn't have been possible for most ninja, although Sano wasn't the fastest ninja around.

The sun was setting and a chill was permeating the valley, he surmised that a fire was necessary at the moment. He looked around, but found a lack of firewood concerning. He looked up the sheer cliff face and performed a few seals, then placed his hands on the wall. "Earth release: Skyward rockslide."

He grabbed his sword and jumped on the charging earth, only intending to quickly find some firewood. However he didn't count on Raven arriving on the opposite end of the valley. At the foot of Madara Uchiha the dreadlocked ninja arrived.

He unloaded his gear and quickly sat down to enjoy some more food. He pulled out some wrapped cupcakes and thought fondly of the one that made them so. Tall, blonde, green eyes, slender. He gave a good long sigh, being away from home alone wasn't a great experience.

"Come on Raven, everyone back home's counting on you. I'm sure I can take an ass-kicking for my village."

He chewed thoughtfully and looked out at the cool water. The falls were surging, almost uncontrollably to the casual observer. The twilight was setting in and that same chill ran through him as Sanosuke. He took out a sleeping bag and slipped himself in it. A normal ninja might try and get wood for a fire, but not Raven. He was quite lazy and figured that if he didn't need food warmed and he could keep himself warm, than he'd rather not risk being spotted.

"It's getting dark, I should take a rest for a little…….*snore*" Raven was out like a light before he knew it, he rolled over and fell in between Madara's feet, effectively dropping out of visual range to anyone not specifically looking for him.

Not far away…..

Kei and Kenshin had walked a bit, in complete silence. There wasn't much to talk about and Pakkun didn't provide much conversation. With the approaching night Kenshin kept a flame going in his hand for light. Kei looked extremely bored and Pakkun kept marching on without any indication of noticing anything.

Kenshin sighed. "I'm going to be bored to death at this rate."

Kei nodded. "Agreed…. I thought we would have run into SOMETHING by now."

As soon as those words left his lips, there was the sound of crashing in the forest and they saw a tree fall not too far away. Kenshin wheeled around but was caught unawares when Kei slapped his hand to extinguish the flames and pushed him into the bushes. "What the F *mumble*!"

Kei had put a hand over his mouth and motioned for him to be quiet. He then jumped into the tree and beckoned Pakkun to follow. Kenshin crawled low and tried to get a better view.

The two saw Sanosuke grabbing the felled tree and chopping it up with his unusual sword. Kenshin whispered up. "Who is it?"

Kei almost seemed to ignore it, but he was discerning the ninja's origins. Green attire and a stone village headband. "He's from Iwa, but as for if he's alone, I don't know."

Pakkun sniffed around and shook his head. "I can't detect anyone else with a similar scent." Kei nodded and drew his blades. "We'll keep watch, he seems harmless, but must have some reason for being around here."

Kenshin was straining to see him, but heard the chopping sound. Not one of them even moved for the full minute that it took Sanosuke to finish his work. Kenshin yanked a couple of explosives out of his bag before making a seal and taking a gluing explosive out of the scroll. The poof sound it made however called attention from Sanosuke.

Everyone froze. Kei looked at his teammate with contempt. _Idiot. _He thought.

Sanosuke looked up from his project and surveyed the area. He didn't see anyone, but the fact that it seemed dead silent around the place was unnerving. He shouldered his sword and put his hand on the ground.

Kei looked at this with suspicion, but suddenly realized something. _Wait, if he's from Iwa, then he can track through the ground!_ He looked at Kenshin's hiding spot and silently swore to himself.

Sanosuke concentrated on feeling the subtle vibrations in the ground. Insects, and plants came through in his mind as clear as day, he expanded his radius of searching and was drawn to the tense breathing of someone in the bushes.

_I caught you._ He thought. He steeled his nerves and started walking in that direction, blade forward and getting ready for any actions the unknown person would take.

Kenshin calmed his breathing and gripped the glue bomb in one hand with the other ready to produce a massive burst of flame. If this led to a fight, he was going to be the one walking away; he'd make sure of that.

Kei's thoughts raced, an international incident would not be good out here, especially with backup so far away and facing an opponent with unknown powers. He needed to get the ninja's attention away from his teammate, maybe avoid this whole thing entirely. He couldn't think of anything, the problem was, he already knew Kenshin was there.

_Think damn it, think!_

All of a sudden, there was a 'BOOM' farther down the canyon, birds scattered and a huge part of the canyon wall collapsed into the river.

Everyone turned their attention to the sound of the explosion and Sanosuke quickly picked up his fire wood and bolted. _I can't risk them having back up, I have to get out of here._

Kenshin started breathing easier, and he got up and leapt into the tree. Kei just shook his head at him. "Well done… that could have gotten us killed…. or worse, moron."

Kenshin shot him a glare. "Hey, I was getting ready for any confrontation; consider yourself lucky I was willing to put myself in danger to help you out."

Kei shrugged. "Whatever."

Kenshin just rolled his eyes. "More importantly, do you think that guy had backup?"

"No… he ran off with that boom, if those were his reinforcements, he would have stayed and fought." Kei thought about it for a second. "We'd better tail him….. see what he's truly up to."

"But what about that explosion?" Kenshin turned his head in the opposite direction Sanosuke had run. "That's what concerns me more."

Kei looked in the other direction. "We don't know what that was, assuming it wasn't Konoha or anybody this guy knew, and the fact that it brought down the side of the canyon, the two of us alone are probably not enough to deal with whatever it was."

Pakkun lifted his nose in the air. "I smell acrid smoke, and I can tell it's not too far off, I'll get back to Kakashi about this, you two go scout out that ninja."

Kenshin persisted. "If it's explosives they have, a quick fire release would blow them all away!"

Kei whacked him upside the head. "Yeah all of them with us included."

Kenshin recoiled from the blow and was about to kick his partner out of the tree, but remembered what Kakashi said. "You give me too little credit when it comes to the art of explosives, but if you are right, I'd rather wait for sensei."

Kei nodded. "Alright then, we'll scout the rock ninja…. Pakkun, go warn Kakashi and Fumiko, hopefully it's not too dark to find that big guy…."

His compatriots nodded and Pakkun was off. Kenshin jumped down. Kei kept inspecting the direction their target had taken off in. "So what's the verdict oh wise one?"

Kei rolled his eyes. _Smartass. _"Seems like he headed for the first Hokage's statue, the base is a good hiding place and if he sets that fire near the feet, then the statue will block out most of the smoke."

Kenshin nodded. "Alright then, let's go!"

The two headed out, going in completely blind, but they had to stick to the mission.

* * *

At the base of the Statue….

Raven had been woken up by the boom and was keeping a lookout for anymore activity while sitting on Uchiha Madara's shoulder. Cross-legged, he kept a hawk's eye on the area, that is, until he saw a glint from down below, across the river, at the base of the first Hokage's statue.

"Hmm, what's that down there?" He craned his neck to try and see what was down there, but the moonlight was dim. "I'd better go check it out."

Silently and nimbly as his lanky body would allow, he landed on the rock surface and inspected the glint closer, he had discovered the gear that Sanosuke had left behind when he went to grab firewood. The glint was coming off of Sano's backpack, which also had the symbol of Iwa on a metal plate attached to it. Raven's eyes widened, Iwa and Kumo weren't on the best of terms, and he didn't know why there would be rock ninja around here.

"Iwa?! But why?!" He suddenly found a black shining sword at his throat and the owner of the equipment staring angrily and suspiciously at him. Sanosuke wasn't pleased to have more than one unexpected encounter in one day.

"I could ask you the same question."

Raven smirked. "What makes you think I'll talk?"

Sanosuke made a few hand signs. "Earth release: bedrock coffin."

Raven found himself being pressured and swallowed by the ground. He stared hard at Sanosuke. "Do you really think that will work?" He clapped his hands and thunder seemingly struck from them. "Lightning release: Thunder god's staff."

Raven made quick work of the growing earth prison and Sanosuke had to leap back to avoid the wildly swinging staff. Raven leveled the glowing staff at his opponent and questioned him once again. "Why are you here? And what do you know of that explosion?"

Sanosuke's ears perked up at the last question. "You mean you don't know anything about it either?"

Raven shook his head. "Nope and It woke me up from my nap, so you can tell I'm a little cheesed off. So why are you here?!"

Sanosuke crossed his sword with Raven's staff, applying pressure to catch him off guard. "My business is my own. I don't see what a cloud ninja could want with me."

The two stood there for a minute or so, Sanosuke progressively applied for force, very nearly overwhelming Raven, that is until they both hear a rustling from above. Both turned their heads to see a small, palm-sized object coming at them, with a tiny fuse attached and already mostly burnt.

The wind blew fiercely. And they heard "Wind release: godly wind from the mountains." Their weapons were forcefully wrenched from their hands and both were almost taken away with the gale. They were almost blown away too, but the lit parcel ignited and they were covered in a blanket of glue.

As their weapons landed, Raven's dissipated and Sanosuke's clattered dangerously close to the edge of the river. It teetered on the edge, and even covered in glue and heavily bonded to a rival ninja, he dragged both of them to trying to get that sword, but the glue wouldn't break. "NO! Not my sword! I handmade that beautiful weapon, I can't lose it!"

It almost fell over the edge, but two blurs swept within the line of vision. Kenshin had grabbed the ridiculously heavy blade and was now holding it blade down and standing in front of them. Kei stood on the other side of the two bundled ninjas. "Seems like we caught you guys, eh?" Kenshin leaned down a bit to get up into Sanosuke's face. "So tell me why you're here or we're going to have to take you back to Konoha to get you interrogated."

Sanosuke scowled at Kenshin. "My business is my own. So I guess you'll have to take me back, or let me out of this glue and I'll come along willingly!"

Kenshin and Kei were caught off by this. Raven snickered. "Same here, although, I would appreciate a ride to the village, so I'll take the dragging."

Kei scoffed. "In your dreams, but now that that's settled… let's get going."

Kenshin nodded and popped out a vial of liquid from his pack. "Hold still, that glue is as strong as I can make it. It takes a special solvent to remove it."

The two did as commanded, but as they rose to their feet, they heard more rustling, numerous trees were alive with movement and Kenshin passed Sanosuke's sword back to him. "That's not our guys, and I assume both of you are alone."

The two nodded. Soon they were surrounded with ninjas, with sound insignias on their heads. "Freeze all of you! You are now our prisoners!"

There were at least ten of them. Kenshin gripped and unsheathed his blades. "Like hell we are! You obviously don't know who you're messing with here!"

The leader was not impressed. "Ninja, ATTACK!"

Uh oh…………………….will they get out of this one alive? Tune in next time.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that. You keep reading, and I'll keep writing. R+R as always and I maybe tempted to update faster, HAHAHA!


	4. Battle of the river! A new team is born

﻿Alright! here's chapter 4, I'm sorry if the time interval was longer than expected, but Sanosuke's creator, one of my editors is swamped, so, you know shit happens. Update on the digital sword, thankfully, I've conjured up the first two re-vamped chapters. It will be a very different story, but the characters, motivations, yada yada, will still be the same. Once I hit the 7th chapter typed I'll post it all at once to avoid confusion. Ok, now here's elements of order, chapter 4, I hope you enjoy and as always R+R, I enjoy reading your comments as much as I enjoy writing.

﻿

* * *

Elements of Order

Battle of the River, a new team is born

At this moment in time, Kenshin, Raven, Kei and Sanosuke were facing off against several sound ninja. The four of them, weapons drawn, were back to back in the middle against the wall that was the river bank. The sound ninjas were advancing menacingly and it looked like they were going to release a barrage of kunai.

Like a pack of wolves, these loathsome scum of the ninja world thought they were going to win by sheer numbers. Regardless of ninja rank, especially with most of the being jonin, a team of genin could take them down with good execution and a bit of luck.

Kenshin reached a hand back and pulled out flash grenades, filled with phosphorous, these handy weapons would blind their opponents. He had Raven and Sanosuke directly next to him, Kei knew what his bombs looked like, but they didn't have a clue, so he whispered to them. "Close your eyes."

They both looked confused. "What? Are you some kind of mental?" Raven wasn't pleased, staring death in the face; this strange ninja covers him in glue and asks him to close his eye in a battle? He must have lost a few brain cells.

"If you value your eyes, you'll do it!" Kenshin barked and the two complied. Kei did as well and popped out two blades from his armguards and connected them, hilt to hilt.

Kenshin tossed the flash bombs and the sound ninjas were taken aback, almost like dawn suddenly hitting, they were left blinded from the attack.

"Aughh! My eyes, I can't see!"

"Find them, kill them!"

"You fools! How could you all fall for that?" The leader had closed his eyes and unleashed a blast of sound waves at the group after the attack, forcing the four to dive out of the way.

Kenshin dived, rolled and ran straight into the first ninja he could and started going to town, spinning, twirling, slicing and whirling. A fluid combat system was strange given his talents, but it worked very well for him. Slowly, as the ninjas were regaining their sight, his target wildly lunged at him, but Kenshin ducked out of the way, turned and delivered a Tornado kick to the ninja's temple, surely knocking him out if not killing him. Kenshin soon found himself surrounded by 3 very angry ninjas who were both blasting sound at him from their freakish arm attachments and trying to stab him with kunai.

Slashing, parrying, stabbing, this was truly war. He was forced on the defensive by two of them while the third tried to liquefy his body with the sheer destruction of sound. The two lunged at him at once and he crossed his blades to block the first, but the second managed to swipe at his mid-section. He drew blood, but Kenshin had managed to draw back his body to avoid anything serious.

Having caught the first one though, Kenshin moved back in and head-butted the ninja in the face, surely breaking his nose. Blood flooded the ninja's mask as his eyes rolled back in his head and he sank to the ground.

The KO'd ninja's partner increased his furious blows. "You bastard, you'll pay for that!" Kenshin backpedaled a bit, trying to stay out of his opponent's range. Unfortunately for Kenshin, the third ninja got a lock on him and unleashed an extremely powerful sound barrage at the young ninja. Kenshin's eyes went wide with surprise as he felt a force rivaling gravity press into his back and force air out of his lungs.

"AHHHHHHH! *cough*" He fell face forward and struggled to regain his breath, face covered in dirt and lungs pleading for air, he gripped his sabers for dear life. The two remaining Ninjas laughed sinisterly and the closest stood over him, cracking his knuckles. "Time to die punk!"

Kenshin coughed again and stared into the eyes of his would-be killer, his own eyes burning with determination. "I'm not dying anytime soon if I can help it!" He was trying to rise under his own power and managed to get up on his knees.

The ninja laughed and stopped him right there, grabbing his bandana and unsheathing a ninjato to behead him. "Oh but you can't help it! Nobody can save you now!" He raised the blade and Kenshin closed his eyes, praying to whatever deity he could, he couldn't die here.

"That's where you're wrong!" The two stopped as a black blade sheared through the ninja, cutting him in half. Kenshin was astonished, if not a bit sick from the blood covering him. Sanosuke had saved his life and helped him up to his feet.

Kenshin hacked a bit more, but managed to stand on his own power. "Thank you."

Sanosuke nodded. "Killing a foe that is defenseless and outnumbered is without honor. You fight far too courageously for that to be your end."

Kenshin nodded and smirked. "Thanks, but how in the hell did you get free?"

Sanosuke pointed behind him and Kenshin followed his gesture to see two ninjas crushed between two slabs of rock and was thoroughly impressed. "Wow, that's ridiculous!"

Sanosuke gave him a tiny smirk. "These ninjas are undisciplined; it was easy to catch them off guard quickly."

"Oh well, sucks for them. Regardless, I can finally down this little punk!"

The last sound ninja fighting Kenshin was slowly backing up. He had lost his nerve now that he was outnumbered with two ninjas who had taken out multiple teammates of his.

"Of course, what do you plan to do?" Sanosuke flashed his blade menacingly as his strode forward a bit, intimidating the enemy. Kenshin grinned wickedly. "Launch me!"

Sanosuke was taken aback. "Are you daft? Why do you want me to launch you?"

Kenshin formed a rasengan in his hand. "If you trust me, this fight will be over quickly."

Sanosuke paused for a moment, but nodded and performed the hand seals. "Earth release: Gaia's breath!" The ground flowed smoothly under Kenshin's feet and then swelled up rapidly, launching him high into the air.

The sound ninja panicked and fired blast after blast of concussive force. "Stay away! Stay away!"

Kenshin flipped and then started a dive, releasing flame from all around his body and putting the Rasengan hand forward. The blasts had no effect as the Rasengan spun right through the forces and the flames shielded the remainder. He gave a great battle cry as he came down like a comet. "This is payback you bastard! RASENGAN!"

The ninja was instantly shredded to pieces. Small chunks were spread out in the area, and Kenshin pulled his hand out from the indent his jutsu had made. Rocks crumbled a bit and the smoking crater was able to comfortably fit Kenshin around width-wise.

Sanosuke whistled in a low tune, clearly impressed at his companion's power. "Well done sir."

Kenshin nodded and gave him the thumbs-up. However he quickly regained his battle composure as he realized the other two were absent. The two looked over at the sound of blades clashing and were greeted with the sight of Kei forcefully plowing a ninja's head into the ground and whirling his double ninjato around, deeply gashing the man's unprotected back.

The last ninja in the deceased man's company had resolved to just barrage Kei with sound. Kei was blown back a bit, they were about to aid him, but they heard the sound of lightning striking, illuminating the area. "Lightning release: Flying thunder god!"

Raven held the bolt of lightning in his hand and rained electricity into the opponent on his side. The man stumbled back, burnt and charred from what looked to be attacks from Raven's glowing staff. The man fell face forward, completely paralyzed. Raven whirled and ran in Kei's direction.

It seemed like they had the situation well in hand. Kei had landed next to Raven and whispered something to him, which the ninja nodded to.

Kei summoned wind to surround his arms and then ran along the river side, charging the last enemy. The water from the river enveloped his arms and he jumped high and flipped to avoid one last barrage. Now with his arms covered in fiercely churning water, he launched torrents of the combined elements at the sound ninja.

"Storm release: hurricane drills!" The two ninjas screamed as the charging water tore through most of their attempts at stopping it. Raven leaped and made the boar, ram and snake hand signs. "Lightning release: shattering thunder!"

The lightning came out in a large current, combining with Kei's technique, electrocuting the ninja and causing massive blunt force trauma from being struck with hurricane force and obstacle by trees. The two breathed a sigh of relief. Kei saluted Raven with his sword, showing his respect. Raven returned the gesture with his staff. "Good work."

The leader was the only one left, scared witless from the complete decimation of his forces by 4 teenagers! Teenagers for kami's sake!

They all turned to hear the incoherent babbling and half-completed sentences offering a truce. None of them heeded his words as they all readied their weapons to annihilate him.

Kenshin was the first one to speak. "You want a truce?! Are you insane?! You come into our land, threaten and attempt to kill us and you want a truce?! I'm going to end you personally!"

The faceless ninja was stepping back, but the sound of gears turning and wheels rolling made him stop and laugh. "Fools! For this impudence, you will pay the ultimate price!"

All four looked at him unimpressed. He simply smirked and pointed at them and in a commanding voice shouted. "FIRE!"

There was a click and a boom, a large projectile hurtled over the sound ninja's head and into the midst of the heroes. Kenshin had been the nearest but there was a space between him and the remaining three, that's where the projectile landed and ignited. Kei, Raven and Sanosuke were blown back, flat laid out, and Kenshin was blown forward, right into the waiting hands of the commander.

The commander gripped Kenshin's neck from behind and pointed the sound release opening from his hand right into his ear. Kenshin struggled mightily, clearly aware of his currently dire situation. The man gripped harder, forcing him to take some labored breaths. "Now now, I can't have you getting away that easily. We'll destroy your friends when they try to rescue you and if you try anything funny, I'll blow your brains out. Understand?"

Kenshin swallowed his pride and bit back his seething hatred. "Crystal clear you damned snake."

The commander simply chuckled and squeezed harder, forcing Kenshin to thrash. "You arrogant brat, I should kill you right now, but there's no fun in that."

Kenshin wheezed. It was getting extremely difficult to breath. He felt his knees going weak and his head was lightening from the lack of oxygen. He could release fire, but if he messed up, his brains would end up all over the river bank, not to mention his newfound friends would be blown to smithereens.

_Kami, give me the strength to fight and to protect the ones that are important to me. Let me survive this, I still have to protect Fumiko, Kei, Kakashi, the whole village._ Kenshin prayed silently as he watched his party recover.

Kei was covered in tiny shrapnel and Raven, as well as Sanosuke, were very burnt. The commander called their attention over. "Oi! Brats! I have something you may want."

The three looked at him, none worse for the wear, but they were ready to kill until they saw who the commander had in custody. Kei swore silently, the fool had gone ahead of them and got himself captured. He tried to come up with a plan, but answered the enemy. "What are your terms...?"

The commander laughed the loudest so far. "My terms?! My terms are for you to die!" He snapped his fingers and a gigantic cannon rolled out of the trees and leveled it's barrel at the group.

Kenshin gritted his teeth. _It can't end here, Kei, Kakashi…………Fumiko._ His body had been deprived of oxygen too long, he started slipping into unconsciousness. _Will I ever see you again? I hope you're safe at least._ He felt his body go limp and his mind was slowly shutting down, lungs crying for air like peasants for food. _I can't believe it'll end here, I tried. I tried so hard, and we almost had him. I guess I have to try HARDER._

Kenshin struggled one more time in a last ditch attempt, but was forcefully slammed against a tree, fully taking whatever stale air that remained out of his lungs and putting him on the precipice of death._ UGH, not smart._

As all hope seemed lost a feminine voice rang out into the blood-red moonlit night. "Drop him right now!"

The commander looked around but saw nothing for a bit. "Who commands it?!"

He saw a shape moving silhouetted in the moonlight, which jumped from the top of the waterfall and landed directly on the cannon, destroying it and the men operating it from the inside. Fumiko had completely wasted the cannon in one very impassioned strike. As the dust cleared the commander looked at his wrecked weapon and into the very mad eyes of the Kunoichi who destroyed it. "I do!"

The sound ninja was panicked, so he did the first thing that came to mind, he tried to blast her, but failed to notice another shape moving with one crimson and black eye. As she dodged, she charged him and he was about to try again, but heard the sounds of birds chirping.

_Birds at night? _ That was the last thing that went through his head before Kakashi's legendary technique obliterated it. "RAIKIRI!"

The lightning crackled and frayed out. Fumiko had charged and tackled Kenshin out of the line of fire and was now laying on top of him, clinging on for dear life as she heard Kakashi yell out his technique. The two rolled and she was relieved to hear him coughing and gasping for air vigorously.

She had put her head down to avoid possible injury but looked up when she heard his raspy voice. "Fumiko! You saved me?" She looked at his face and he was smiling widely. She smiled back. "Glad you're ok knucklehead."

Fumiko was a little worried when Kenshin's facial expression turned to horror. He had seen Kakashi's handiwork and felt a bit sick to his stomach. She tried to turn her head around, but he put a hand on her cheek and turned it back. "Don't look."

She did as instructed but still felt her gut wrench at the sight of Kenshin covered in blood. "Oh Kami, how did this happen, where are you hurt? Let me see."

He shook his head. "This isn't mine, I kind of lost track of whose it was." She unstuck herself and it took a moment for her to register it, but when she did, she started retching and ran to the river to vomit. Kenshin sighed. Even covered in blood, he found that sight just as bad. "Jeez, that's kind of gross."

Kakashi removed his hand from the last enemy's head, or rather the space where it had been and surveyed the area with some astonishment. 4 young ninjas against several of what he assumed were jonin. That was mind-boggling. They had to have some kind of luck on their side, but he knew that without his and Fumiko's timely intervention, all would have been lost.

Kakashi turned to see his female student retching into the river and couldn't help but grimace at the sight. She wasn't so used to the death that came with being a ninja, apparently. He turned his attention to the newcomers and kept his sharingan uncovered to survey their behavior. "Kei, come here, and bring those two as well. Kenshin, clean yourself up and get Fumiko to her feet."

They did as they were told. Kei escorted Raven and Sanosuke over and motioned for them to sheathe or dissipate their weapons. Kenshin walked up next to Fumiko and kneeled to splash some water on himself, trying to get the dried blood out. Still feeling a bit sick himself, he also splashed some non-bloody water on himself, trying to rid himself of the nausea he felt.

Fumiko simply stared at the water a bit longer, seeing it turn red from the vital fluids that were being washed away. Waited until Kenshin was done before taking a drink from cleaner water to clear her mouth of her sick. Kenshin got up and was about to tell Kakashi to give her another minute but she put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "I'm fine, really. Let's just get over there."

He nodded and started walking back with her in tow. Kenshin started coughing again, still not fully recovered from the attempted strangulation and blast of sound. He limped a bit and felt Fumiko wrap and arm around his waist to help him walk. He draped an arm over her neck, gestured his thanks and the two made their way back to the group.

Kakashi surveyed his group and his mouth tightened. Bleeding, bruised, internal damage and more enemies possible in the wilderness, they needed to report this to the Hokage. Enemies on Konoha soil were a dangerous sign. Kakashi picked up one of the ninjas Kenshin downed and took off his mask, the bloody mask was covered in deep red snot, obviously the ninja who had his nose broken.

Kenshin recognized his own doings and spoke up. "I wasn't aiming to kill, just administer one hell of a beat-down. We can take him back for Intel right?"

Kakashi nodded and covered his sharingan up. "Well you managed to keep one alive, everyone else here seems to be dead."

The rest of them looked around, confirming that fact in the dull moonlight. Kakashi turned to Raven and Sanosuke. "Ninjas from Kumo and Iwa, strange to see around these parts. What are your names?"

Raven stepped forward and did a goofy, flamboyant bow. "They call my Raven, Mr. Silvery hair."

Sanosuke kneeled. "Sanosuke, sir. And you are Sharingan Kakashi aren't you?"

Kakashi was taken aback, even after all these years; the young ninjas of far villages knew his name. "Yes that's correct. And I assume you both know that you are now at our mercy, being in our lands."

The two looked up, surprise evident in their eyes. Kakashi simply beckoned them to ease. "Relax, if it weren't for you two, I might have to be bearing the corpses of two of my students." He motioned to Kei and Kenshin, the latter nodding.

"I take it you haven't been formally introduced. Even when you didn't know the ninja you were fighting with, you fought. That's incredibly noble. I thank you for your sacrifice and efforts."

Raven grinned and Sanosuke smiled.

"Well Raven and Sanosuke, I'd like you to meet Kenshin, Kei and Fumiko." Kakashi motioned to each one respectively. Kenshin and Kei nodded, Fumiko bowed.

Kenshin limped over to Sanosuke and extended his hand. "You saved my life back there, and for that I owe it to you. Any time you need me all you need to do is ask."

Sanosuke shook his hand. "You're most welcome; it was an honor fighting with you." Kenshin smirked. "Right back at you. You have some wicked moves."

Sano nodded. "Likewise."

Kenshin winced as his leg wobbled. "Um, hey Fumiko, could you take a look at my leg? I might have banged it up more than I thought."

"Ugh, I swear, you always have some kind of mishap." She looked at the rest of the combatants. "Although, I suppose this time it's not just you. The rest of you, I'll take a look at in a minute, just rest."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll rest for tonight. None of you are in any shape to travel, so get some sleep." He set about tying the sound ninja up and placed him hanging from a tree by his torso.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi turned to the sound of Kenshin's voice and was greeted with an unlit explosive. "Put that in his mouth, I want to get a good night's sleep."

Kakashi stuck the grenade in the ninja's mouth and put the ninja's mask back on. He then sat at the base of the tree opposite and assumed his guarding position.

Kei had lain out his things and was lying up against a tree for support, eyes threatening to succumb to the sweet bliss of sleep. Raven was already in his sleeping bag and dozing off and Sanosuke simply laid his head on his bag and slept on his earthy bed.

Fumiko shook her head. "Oh well, I can't wake them up now. From what I can tell though, they're not too bad off, just tired."

Kenshin nodded as he was lying up against the tree, with Fumiko hovering above his leg with her medical chakra. "It was a rough day. So what's the damage doc?"

She rolled her eyes at his remark but smiled. "Nothing too bad, your leg just got some minor internal damage, this should fix it up." The warm green glow washed over his leg and he felt his muscles relax. They had unconsciously tightened up from the pain he was in.

Kenshin let out a relieved sigh. "Ah, that feels great. Thanks." The glow faded and Fumiko wiped sweat from her brow. "Sure thing just let me wrap this up. Keep it still for tonight so the healing can take some effect."

Kenshin nodded. "Yes ma'am. I'll be a good patient." Fumiko smile and punched him lightly in the arm. "Goofball."

He fake-flinched. "Hey, I'm fragile right now." She laughed. "As if."

The wind blew and they both shivered from the chill. Fumiko moved her hands up and down her arms, trying to warm them. She looked around and saw that everyone else seemed fairly comfortable. "I was going to suggest a fire, but that might wake everyone else up."

Ken shook his head. "It's fine, give me a sec." He shot out a small fireball from his hand and it landed on the cannon wreckage, igniting the wooden structure for a nice, big bonfire.

"But what if it gets too big?" Fumiko was about put it out, but Kakashi called out over the campground. "I'll keep an eye on it, literally."

The three remaining awake laughed at his little joke. "Good one Kakashi- sensei. Fumiko, why don't you get some sleep too?" Kenshin patted the ground right next to him and she obliged.

He laid his head back and started closing his eyes. "Good night." She followed directly after. "Night." Kenshin was asleep before his head hit the tree pillow. Fumiko was getting close to deep sleep, but another cold gust of wind caused her to shiver again and get closer to the heat, which meant closer to Kenshin's direction. She rolled over and was now using his shoulder as a pillow; she unwittingly cuddled up to him and was out like a light.

A smile spread over Kenshin's face as he felt the sudden warmth on his side, already dreaming, one could only guess what he thought it was. Unknowing and not caring what it was he drew it closer, wrapping an arm around her waist. There they stayed for a long while, with Kakashi chuckling to himself. "This will be an interesting morning."

A few hours passed and Kakashi was staring at the fire intently until around 4 AM roughly. He heard a yawn and looked over to see Kenshin stirring. Kakashi said nothing as he waited for his student to realize what predicament he was in.

The world came into view as Kenshin's head came off of the bark as he yawned one more time, he was going to raise his arms to stretch, but felt something warm around his right arm. As he picked out the sleeping shapes of his comrades, he looked at the dark green scenery, illuminated by the bonfire. He smelled something intoxicatingly sweet and he drank the scent in, slowly turning his head, expecting to see Fumiko on the other side.

To Kenshin's surprise his eyes laid on her pink hair a lot sooner than he'd expected. She was attached……to his arm. Kenshin wasn't normally intimidated by closeness to Fumiko, but somehow, her sleeping like that, wrapped around his side, him holding her around her waist and her smiling warmly, he felt slightly nervous. Nervous and yet calmed at the same time, his mind told him that this wasn't normal, but his heart told him differently. Not wanting to move, because he would risk disturbing her, he checked over on Kakashi's location.

The silver-haired ninja simply gestured his acknowledgement and waved him back to sleep. Kenshin's head tilted back and he tightened his grip a bit. He didn't feel her adjust in discomfort, so he let himself slip back into the plane of dreams. _I could almost swear that old Kakashi hid a smile under that mask……._

The next morning……

The three ninjas sleeping independently stirred. Kei stayed lying up against his tree and staring at the clouds, waiting for the morning grogginess to wear off a little. Raven rolled out of his sleeping bag and took the opportunity to splash some water on his face. Sanosuke merely rose from his bed to dust himself off a bit, he had received an earthy coating when he'd tossed and turned on the cold hard ground.

Sanosuke stretched and un-kinked his back, have a few cracks sound out. His hair was a mess and his eyes were drooped heavily, obviously denoting his reputation for not liking mornings. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I hate mornings, too bright, too early."

Raven snickered and shrugged, wiping the water from his face with his sleeve. "Too early for you maybe you big lug. I'm as chipper as possible!"

Sanosuke shot him a groggy stare and decided it was too early to care. "Yeah, alright, just point me in the direction of the river. "

Raven jerked a thumb over his shoulder and Sanosuke stalked over to take a drink and wash his face. Raven smirked at this Neanderthal display. "You're an odd one, caveman."

Sanosuke merely shrugged it off. "I'm not the only one now am I?"

Kei walked between both of them. "You're both weird……." And he kept on walking.

The two stared on, neither amused. Raven shook his head playfully. "I think he's the weirdest, wouldn't you agree?"

Sanosuke chuckled. "I'd have to say I do." He then cocked his head back, noticing something he thought strange.

Raven followed Sano's gaze behind him and saw Kenshin and Fumiko still sleeping in the half embrace. Sanosuke raised an eyebrow. "Does that seem odd to you?"

Raven shrugged. "Not really my place to say, we did only meet them yesterday. I can't help but be jealous though, she's a fox."

Kei was walking back to his spot after going to pick a peach for breakfast when Sanosuke stood and tapped him. "Are those two involved with each other or something?" Sanosuke pointed in the sleeping duo's direction. Kei smirked. "Oh, you mean them? That's not out of the ordinary…... I just try to keep my head ducked when they have their lovers' quarrels…..yeah, best advice I can give you."

Kei continued strolling to rest on his spot as the two ninjas laughed. The hardy laughter of Sanosuke and loud chuckling of Raven had reached Kenshin's ears. He slowly opened his eyes, painfully at the bright sun. The world timidly crept into view as he saw Raven and Sano laughing along with Kei looking at him from afar. Kenshin was confused for a moment until he heard soft breathing on his shoulder and comfortable warmth on his right side.

Suddenly he'd remembered what he'd woken up to last night. _That wasn't a dream?!_ Kenshin looked a bit sheepish and his mind scrambled to figure out what to do. _Ok Kenshin, calm down, it's just Fumiko sleeping next to you. As for your arm, why is it there?! What gave you the bright idea to do that?! Ok, calm, calm, just calm down. Why don't you wake her up for starters, you knucklehead?_

Kenshin's inner wisdom surprised him sometimes; it was almost like she was his conscience. He moved his shoulder a bit, trying to wake her gently. Raven and Sano were still snickering at his attempts. Kenshin shot them a glare. The only thing accomplished by Kenshin's attempts, was that she grabbed on tighter.

"No…..don't leave me."

Kenshin was very close to freaking and waved a hand in front of her face to check if she was still dreaming. Thankfully for him, she was. He breathed a sigh of relief. _What else would wake her up? Hmm, something gentle but noticeable should do the trick, but what?_

Suddenly, his mind hit an idea, but he very nearly cast it away. _Hmm, now if I were to do that, would I live?_ He shrugged to himself in his mind. _Worth a shot, besides, that'll be a great way to start out the morning._

Fumiko had left her forehead exposed at the angle she had her head, so Kenshin brushed his lips against it. This made Sanosuke and Raven stop laughing and stare at him in utter shock. Kenshin secretly smiled to himself at their expressions and she started coming out of her deep slumber.

Fumiko's head was swimming as she stirred and yawned. She had felt a kiss on her forehead, but couldn't determine if it was real or some form of lucid dreaming. The first thing she saw was a pair of deep hazel eyes inches from her own. For a minute she couldn't comprehend what was going on until she felt a hand around her waist. She fought a blush back as she cleared her throat. Kenshin immediately let go.

She got up and returned to her pack behind the tree. "I need to....uh… get ready."

He smirked. "All right then." _She really IS cute when she gets flustered._

Kenshin grabbed his already packed stuff and walked over to Raven and Sano. "So boys, enjoy the show?"

Raven paid little to no mind. "So you two are going out, it's no biggie."

Sano nodded. "It's natural to see couples sleeping together."

This flabbergasted Kenshin. "I…..uh….but we're not…….dating." he scratched his head nervously.

Raven looked at him skeptically. "But you were just…..doing that whole display." He motioned to the spot where the two were sleeping together.

Kenshin was strapped for answers. "I don't know what to tell you."

Sanosuke looked at Raven who just made little circles around his ear with his finger. "I think you've lost a few screws."

Kenshin laughed and started walking away. "Come on guys I doubt it would happen."

Kakashi slung the sound ninja over his shoulder and cast his eye over to Fumiko who was packing her stuff in a bit of a flustered state. He noticed everyone else busy doing something, Sanosuke and Raven were conversing about something or other, Kei was munching on a peach and Kenshin was testing his leg out.

Kakashi approached his student and took a seat to get within her vision range. "Is something troubling you, Fumiko?"

Fumiko didn't answer, she simply kept on packing. Kakashi sighed. "Is this about you sleeping next to Kenshin?" She flinched a bit. "You know in actuality it's not that bad, some could see you were simply trying to get warmer."

Fumiko zipped up her pack and sighed. She sat down next to him and kept her feet out in front of her, clicking the toes of her shoes together every so often. "I know sensei, I just…feel odd."

Kakashi nodded. "I think I know what that could mean, but, maybe I'll let you figure it out on your own, if I tried to guess, you might not take it well." He stood and put his bounty on his shoulder again, hearing the ninja groan Kakashi tossed him on his head and he was out again.

Fumiko shuddered, Kakashi could be scary sometimes.

Kakashi looked toward Konoha and shrugged his catch on his shoulder again. "Ok guys, it's time to get moving again."

Kei said nothing, grabbed his pack and was in the trees in an instant. Fumiko rolled her eyes at him. He's so_ mysterious._ She thought to herself in a mocking tone. "Wait up Kei!"

Kei knelt down where he had landed and his eyes locked onto hers. "……Is there something the matter?"

Fumiko shook her head. "I don't think so, but I didn't get a chance to check your wounds out for myself last night. "

Kei scoffed."Yeah…. I noticed." His eyes passed over Kenshin quite briefly. Fumiko knew what he was referring too and grabbed him by his collar once again capturing his wandering attention. "Breathe a word of this to anyone and I'll show you just how unpleasant I can be. So quit you're whining and let me see if you're alright."

Kei put his hands up in some semblance of defense but his voiced did not rise over the normally flat tone. "Alright, fine…….no need to get so defensive…….."

She disregarded that last statement and examined him with her medical chakra, mostly healing wounds and burns, but nothing as major as Kenshin's injury had been. After a minute or so of silence she rose from her spot and dusted off her hands. "Other than your foul mood, there seems to be nothing wrong."

Kei seemed disinterested. He called down to Kakashi. "Sensei….. when do we leave?"

Kakashi looked over at the two newcomers and whistled. "Does either one of you feel like you need an examination or are you ready to leave?"

Sanosuke inspected himself, stretched a little bit and Raven rolled his shoulder a couple of times. "I'm just fine, how about you Raven?"

Raven shrugged. "I'm dandy, seems like Kenshin's the only one who got his butt whooped." He and Sanosuke, as well as Fumiko laughed.

Kenshin rolled his eyes. "Laugh it up chuckleheads. Without me, we wouldn't have taken those jerks by surprise." He jumped into the tree opposite Kei and cocked his head toward Konoha.

Kakashi followed. "Right then, let's get a move on!"

A chorus of "Right!" was sounded by the other three and they were off back to the village. After the group had gone, a figure walked into the clearing and picked up a gear from the cannon that had been destroyed and burnt. Ice-blue eyes carefully studying the object before he crushed it into dust.

"Soon Konoha, very soon……………" The figure walked away, malicious intent rife in his aura.

* * *

Seems like trouble's a-brewing, I hope they're ready for it

I hope you've enjoyed this new chapter, as always if you read it and enjoyed it, hey, even if you didn't like it, reviews are greatly appreciated and go toward being making this quality writing possible, lol


	5. Fire and Wind and the shining Sun

Alright, here's chapter 5, sorry it took so long, but, you know how stuff goes, college can be a bitch. I'll try to be a little faster with these updates as i have the majority of what I want to do planned out, so, start looking forward to hopefully weekly updates. As always, thanks goes to G reaper shadowronin and takaondo as Sano, Raven and Kei belong to them. So without further adieu, enjoy.

* * *

Elements of Order

Fire and Wind

Trudging back in through the village gates, Kenshin collapsed to the ground and kissed it. "HOME! It's so good to be home!"

Kakashi sighed and Kei picked Kenshin up by the collar. "We've only been gone a day you idiot…" Kenshin sneered at him. "I know that! I don't like being away from home."

Raven and Sanosuke strolled past them. Raven chewed thoughtfully on a piece of straw, his hands behind his head. He laughed at Kenshin's shenanigans. "Some ninja you are."

Sanosuke simply nodded. "Hm."

Fumiko rolled her eyes. "Leave they poor guy alone, 3 on 1 isn't a fair fight." Kenshin grinned and dislodged Kei's grip on him. "HA! At least she's on my side."

Kei looked at him dully as they continued into the village. "Yeah yeah…"

Izumo and Kotetsu were again at their dutiful position, this time, playing rock, paper, scissors. "Rock"

"Paper" Izumo lazily declared eyes half closed. That is until he saw Sanosuke and Raven first. Sanosuke, carrying the large blade, definitely caused some alarm. "Stop! Who are you?!"

The two stopped mid-tracks until Kakashi and the others caught up with them. "Don't worry, they're delegates."

Kotetsu reclined. "Hmm, there seems to be a lot of those coming around." Kakashi quirked an eye at him, clearly intrigued. "Anyone important?"

Kotetsu shrugged. "Some guy from tea country, he says he's connected to the land of sound."

Kakashi's eye widened. Kenshin jumped onto the desk of their post, grabbing Kotetsu's collar. "Where is he now?!"

"P-p-p-probably meeting the Hokage now." Kenshin relaxed his grip and drew his blades. Kakashi secured his bounty and unsheathed his sharingan.

Fumiko looked panicked. "What do we do Kakashi-sensei?!" Kakashi eyed the Hokage's tower and then pointed to the headband of his bounty. "We move! The Hokage could be in danger! Let's go!"

The ninjas needed no further warning as they dashed to get to the tower before it was too late. Izumo leaned over, completely flustered. "What do we do?"

"Make sure we're ready for the worst." Kakashi called back to him as they left out of sight. Izumo dragged Kotetsu out of their work station and shook him a bit to make sure he was completely in his senses. "Ok, you round of the ninjas east, I'll hit west, and we'll meet up at the Hokage's tower."

Kotetsu nodded. "Right, let's go!"

The two sped off, rousing their fellow ninja to the Hokage's aid.

Meanwhile, team seven was armed and ready, approaching the tower with blinding speed, weapons drawn, worry evident in Kenshin's and Fumiko's faces especially. Kakashi turned to Sanosuke and tossed him the sound ninja. Sanosuke caught him without another word.

Kakashi eyed both Sano and Raven with his sharingan eye. "You two stay back in case there's more trouble, having foreign ninja bust into the Hokage's offices would look terrible, even in my case."

The two nodded and Sano shouldered the load, angling the man's head toward the claymore's blade. Raven charged his staff to his hands and the two remained behind on the last jump before arriving at the tower.

As they had finally made it, Kenshin's grip tightened on his swords, Kei readied his dual ninjato, and Kakashi and Fumiko pulled out Kunai. Kenshin jumped and corkscrewed into the Hokage's window, Fumiko directly behind him and Kakashi and Kei jumping through the other one.

*KRAAASH*

Glass flew everywhere and there were sounds of chaos as the ninjas landed. Coming out on either side of the Hokage, immediately coming into view was a teenager in black robes flanked by two body guards. Kenshin landed and ducked, pointing his blade at the bodyguards. "Fumiko, take them out!"

"Right!" Fumiko came in right after him, slamming her fists into the two men; they flew into the wall behind them. In a flash, the teenager sitting in the chair was faced with a black blade and a saber pointed at his throat. Kakashi had lightning glowing from his hand, Sharingan in full force as the three of them stood in front of the Hokage.

After the dust settled, Naruto sat at his desk, hands folded in front if his mouth, calmly taking in the situation. "Kakashi, what is the meaning of this?"

Without turning around, Kakashi answered his former student. "We heard this person was affiliated with the land of SOUND." He stressed this last word as he leveled the Raikiri at him.

Naruto nodded. "I see why that might cause some alarm; however, he is affiliated with the newly re-founded ninja village of sound, and has shown no hostility here."

The man smirked at the ninja, completely cool presence maintained throughout this ordeal. "Hokage-sama, it seems like your ninja are undisciplined." His ice-blue eyes locked on Kenshin's furious Hazel ones. Kenshin fumed, and pressed the steel onto the person's neck, growling in a low tone.

Kakashi didn't skip a beat. "If that's true, then how can you explain this…?" He snapped his fingers and Fumiko ran to the window. "Come here guys, bring that jerk with you!"

Two more figures appeared in the room, one bearing the load of the sound ninja and the other carrying a glowing staff.

Kakashi pointed at the sound ninja and then the ground in front of the delegate. "Drop him, now."

Sanosuke complied and threw him down roughly, earning a pained groan from the already beaten man. Kakashi pressed his sharingan stare into the man. "We were attacked by a group of sound ninja near the valley at the end, wielding a giant moving barrel that shot explosives, Kenshin was nearly killed twice and Fumiko demolished it."

The delegate chuckled at Kenshin, who was now close to piercing his throat. "Quiet you!" The last little advance made the man choke slightly.

Naruto closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. He cocked his head at the two new ninja. "And who are you two? Speak Quickly."

Sanosuke kneeled. "Sanosuke Kazeyama of Iwa, sir."

Raven mimicked the other's motions. "Raven of Kumo Hokage-sama."

Naruto nodded. "I welcome you with tentative approval, seeing as how you appeared here with Kakashi-san."

The two nodded and stood at attention. Naruto turned his steely gaze to the man being held as a traitor by his student and mentor. "Now, Mitsune, I am sure you know of Sharingan Kakashi. This man has been a faithful ninja to the village for years and I am very compelled to believe him. So what do you have to say for yourself?"

He waved his hand at Kenshin and spoke again calmly. "Ken, ease up, he needs to talk before I can let you do anything."

Kenshin did as he was told and kept his blades pointed at the supposed offender. Mitsune eyed him coolly, an air of arrogance emanating from him as he was allowed to defend himself. "I actually came here to discuss that matter. We seem to have a rogue cell of ninja working against us trying to get vengeance on Konoha. It seems like they're still angry at their defeat and dissolution years ago."

Kakashi judged every syllable for hints of lying, but couldn't find any. Either he was telling the truth, or he was VERY good. Naruto's gaze fell over the silver-haired jonin. "Anything Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi shook his head, dispelled his Raikiri and covered his sharingan. "I can't see anything wrong with him."

Naruto nodded again. "Very well, Ken, Kei, at ease."

Kei did so immediately and sheathed his blades. Kenshin however, kept one saber a little longer than necessary. His stare was locked with Mitsune's. The sheer arrogance aggravated the living hell out of Kenshin.

Naruto stood from his chair, clearly displeased at Ken's disobedience. "That was an order Shinobi!"

Kenshin sheathed his blade with a huff. "Yes Hokage-sama." His tone was low and seeping with resent, just barely reaching an intelligible level. Naruto stared hard at him. _He disobeyed me; he's letting his temper get the better of him. I'll have to talk to that boy later._

Naruto sat back down into his chair, whipping up his robes as he did so. With hat tugged low and a pipe smoking in his mouth, he reviewed the paperwork for this newcomer. The room stood in silence, save for the sounds of the recovering bodyguards. Mitsune voiced his displeasure without turning to face them. "You two incompetent fools get up and act like you have some sense. I don't even know why I brought you along."

The bite in his voice made Fumiko cringe, there was a cruelness ingrained in it. The first guard, one with an eye patch, stared Fumiko down with his good eye. "But Master, she took us by surprise!"

Mitsune waved his hand sharply, commanding him to be silent. "That is no excuse for someone charged to protect me. Both of you go wait outside of the door until I've finished my meeting and stop embarrassing me!"

Fumiko was horrified. _He's such an ass! I don't even want to be in the same room with this creep!_

Naruto chuckled as he handed back Mitsune's papers. "Now now, don't you think you were a little hard on them? There is no small pride in saying they were bested by my daughter."

Mitsune's eyebrow immediately quirked, something noted by Kenshin. Ken reclined on the wall, muttering to himself. _Why did that slime react like that?_

Mitsune smiled slyly to himself. "Your daughter?" He grinned and wheeled about, approaching Fumiko, who found herself unwillingly backing up against a wall. He took her hand and kissed hit tenderly, earning a bristle from Kenshin.

"Why miss, you've stunned me with your strength and beauty. I apologize for my earlier display of rudeness. If I may, can I ask your name?"

Fumiko was stunned and blushing slightly. "I-I-I-It's Fumiko."

He kissed her hand again. "What a beautiful name, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. I cannot take my eyes off of yours, such a stunning shade of blue. And your hair sparkles like cherry blossom petals at dawn."

She couldn't do anything but stutter. Kenshin was standing with his arms crossed. _She's falling for that suave act?! Don't believe that asshole! He's total slime! Can't you see that?! _

All of this and more he wanted to scream out and thump the punk. Naruto took all this in with marked amusement.

Mitsune turned to the Hokage, still holding onto Fumiko's hand. "Hokage-sama, if you would permit me, could I possibly have your stunning daughter show me around the village?

Kenshin's body language was rife with agitation. He tapped his foot as he restrained huffs. _WHAT?! Say no! Say no! For the love of all that is holy, Say no!_

Naruto let a puff escape his lips. "It's up to her; I have no trouble with it. However I can't ask my daughter to do something she doesn't want to."

A small smile played on Kenshin's lips and an internal celebration took place. _YES! Come on! Kick him to the curb Fumi…._

"Gladly! Can I call you Mitsu?" She was smiling widely and being a bit flirty.

…_ko. _ Kenshin was in pure and utter shock, his mind couldn't think about anything further. Earning worried glanced from Raven and Sanosuke, He stood rigid in place.

Mitsune smiled widely and looped his arm around hers. She giggled and led him out the door. Instant groupie girl in a matter of moments!

The door closed gently behind them and nobody said ANYTHING. Kenshin turned around and hold himself up on the book case with one arm, head bowed low. General movements of discomfort accompanied by small, frustrated noises.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, gaze not leaving his paperwork. "Something wrong Kenshin?"

Kenshin put up one finger, asking him to wait a minute. He stood up and paced about the room, waving his hands aggravated. Words and half-complete sentences left his mouth. "You…how could you….why….how…huh….buh…. what?"

Kenshin leaned out the window and drew in a huge breath. "MOTHERFU----! *muffle*" Kakashi had covered his mouth and dragged him from the window. "Kenshin! Watch your mouth!"

Kei was more than amused at this display and Kakashi groaned. Naruto sighed. "I had no idea you had such concerns about Fumiko, however, we have no say in what she does."

Kenshin fought off Kakashi's hold. "Let go!" Kakashi relented, thinking it was just best to let Ken blow off some steam outside. Kenshin ran for the window, but Naruto snapped his fingers. "Kei."

Kei grabbed his teammates' ankle before he leapt off, and Kenshin fell back into the room, visibly furious now. "I just want to get out of here, why can't I go?!"

Naruto released another puff. "These two ninja that have accompanied you need a place to stay and you have room to spare. I ask that you please accommodate them and show them to their new home."

Ken was fuming, but relented. "Ok Hokage-sama." He said this through gritted teeth with a mean look in his eye.

He turned to leave and beckoned for the other two to follow him. "Come on guys, let's go."

Sanosuke made no move. "I have to speak with you Hokage-sama."

Naruto waved him off. "Soon enough young shinobi, however, as you can see, I am buried in problems today. I'll try and pencil you in for tomorrow."

Sanosuke nodded and Raven followed suit. The three were out the door and their footsteps echoed briefly as they left the tower.

Kakashi sat down in the chair that was left in the room. Naruto took the pipe out of his mouth and put it out. He turned to the remaining ninja in the room and waved his arm. "Kei, keep an eye on that Mitsune character. If he hurts my daughter, you tell me and Kenshin."

Kei was a bit surprised at this bit, but was out of the window immediately. "Yes Hokage-sama…" He was gone in a flash and all that was left was a sly smiling Naruto and a speechless Kakashi.

Kakashi simply stared at his former pupil in shock. "What exactly are you up to, Naruto you old fox?"

Naruto chuckled. "Kakashi my old friend, if experience has taught me anything, it's this: Kids are hormonal and highly emotional, and they rarely think things through."

Kakashi grinned under his mask. "So what should I do?" He stood up as he prepared to leave and carry out whatever the Hokage told him to do. Naruto reclined in his chair, putting his feet on his desk. "I just want you to keep an eye on Ken. Knowing him, he'll probably train himself half to death. However, I wondered if you would indulge me in some tea?"

Kakashi sat down opposite his old friend and mirrored his position. Naruto pressed the button on his intercom. "Shizune, be a dear and bring me and Kakashi some tea, and ask the contractors to come in tomorrow. " He chuckled. "I need some new windows."

Kakashi laughed in embarrassment. "Sorry about that, Hokage-sama."

Naruto sighed. "Don't worry about it, it's something easily taken care of." Naruto reached over and started filling and lighting his pipe before reclining again. "So Kakashi, ever thought about settling down?"

* * *

Meanwhile, down the street….

Kenshin had his hands stuffed in his pockets, still fuming at what had happened at the Hokage's office. He was muttering to himself and completely ignoring everything else around him. Sanosuke and Raven had to quicken their pace.

Raven yawned. "You know mumbling's not going to make it better you fool." Sanosuke nodded. "Aye, it shouldn't be bothering you."

Kenshin wheeled on them. "Look, you two don't know anything, now shove it!"

Taken aback by this outburst, Raven blew him a raspberry and Sano simply shook his head. Kenshin kept stalking home. That is, until someone very unexpected tackled him. That is some-THING. A large violet dog was currently licking Kenshin's face, much to the protest of the shinobi. "Gah! Murasaki! Stop licking my face! Blech, you have dog breath!"

Raven was laughing uncontrollably and Sanosuke chuckled. They heard light, feminine laughter on the wind and looked behind them to see a girl about their age joining their mirth. Average height, slim, long dark hair, milky white skin, dressed in fishnets and light violet clothing, and she had two small fang-like designs on her cheeks. She was on the busty side of average and when she opened her eyes they were light lavender.

Raven kind of gawked at her, mouth completely agape and eyes fixated on her, ahem, chest. Sanosuke also took notice, eyebrow raised and interest piqued a little. She ran over to Ken laughing raucously, to the slight disappointment of both.

She stood over him as Murasaki had pinned him down. "Oh come on now Ken, she's just playing with ya!"

Ken grimaced. "It's nice to see you Hinome, but get this dog off of me!" She laughed again. "Mura! Come here girl!"

The dog barked and released Kenshin, returning to her master's side. Hinome scratched Murasaki's head a bit as she questioned Ken. "So what's up? You're looking a little miffed! Cheer up!" She gave him a light punch to the arm. He mock flinched and started walking. "What makes you think I'm ticked off?"

She looked at him inquisitively as they walked. "I don't know, you just seem excitable today and not in the happy way."

Kenshin slumped lower. "It's nothing, just something with Fumiko, there's this new guy in town and he's an utter ass! And…."

She grinned, hands folded behind her back playfully. "Oh? Fumiko's got a new man? Hmm, then that means I'm fully allowed to do THIS" She leaned over and pecked Ken on the lips before running away. "Think about it tiger, I'll see you later! Come on Murasaki."

And like that she was gone. Kenshin stood in the middle of the road, at first, body too stiff to do anything except blink and then just loose enough to taste his lips and savor the plum lipstick. "Wow."

Raven was in a mind broken state. "DOES THAT JUST HAPPEN TO YOU?"

Sanosuke was also surprised. "That was incredibly blunt! Anymore like her? Seems like this village is rife with attractive kunoichi."

Kenshin simply kept walking; there was a confused look on his face. That kiss probably didn't aid his whole dilemma. _WHAT WAS THAT?!_

His mind screamed at him and he had no answer. "Let's just…get home. I need to train afterward."

The two complied. Raven whispered to Sanosuke. "Was that ridiculous or what?" Sanosuke laughed. "Our friend seems to be very popular with the females of this village."

Kenshin muttered something that sounded like "Jackasses" as they approached his home. Three stories and a beautiful garden comprised this relatively nice house. Raven whistled lowly. "Nice pad man, you got enough room for us?"

All three laughed and Kenshin rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, you're going to be interesting to live with." Raven nodded eagerly. "Ayup, I'm a hoot."

Sanosuke shook his head. "It seems like I'm the only sane one around here. Hmm, it's going to be interesting indeed."

Kenshin opened the ornate, flame-patterned door and led them inside. Modest kitchen, dining room, a few bathrooms, Ken was well taken care of by The Hokage. He strolled in and led them around in a small tour. "Make yourselves at home; there are at least two useable bedrooms. Couple of basic ground rules, No touching my BBQ meat, you do your own dishes and laundry. As for cleanliness, try to keep it at a decent level, I'm the only slob allowed in this house." He chuckled and Raven smirked, while Sano smacked his forehead.

Kenshin paced toward his room. "Ok, I think you guys have that covered right?"

Raven shrugged. "I guess so. I'll just take this bedroom over here."

Sanosuke poked his head around the corner. "I've got the one over here, Thanks a lot for taking us in."

Kenshin waved as he walked to his room. "No problem, I'm going to go take a nap, you guys can do whatever you want." He closed his door and Raven yawned. "You'd think he got enough comfortable sleep with Fumiko."

Sanosuke shushed him. "Quiet, it's none of our business."

It was a moot point however. Kenshin had heard everything and he didn't really care. Lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, he was wide-awake and had a hand ruffling his hair. His mindscape was in complete ruin and he was trying to piece together what had happened.

_Ok, Fumiko's hanging out with Mitsune, why?_

_What? Is she not good enough for other guys to be interested in? _Kenshin's conscience made an appearance, nearly screaming at massaged his temples in annoyance.

_What do you want from me woman?! _ This, to him, was a near match for arguing with Fumiko.

_What do you want from yourself, for yourself?! _ She stomped her foot down in his head. Kenshin rolled over on his bed and looked out the window. Standing and moving over, he opened it and leaned out of it, resting on his forearms.

_I…don't…know._

He sighed heavily into the waning afternoon. The sun was maybe an hour from setting and there were so many questions on his mind. He retracted back into the room and strapped his sabers back on, leaving the bombs on his bed, he walked out. Crossing the Kitchen and living room, containing a snacking Raven and a lounging Sanosuke, he made his way out.

"Don't wait up guys; I got something to take care of." He opened the door, but heard "Wait."

Sano sat up and pointed to Ken's sabers. "What do you need those for?"

Kenshin continued on his way out, simply stating "Training."

Raven looked up from his snack of ramen and threw a questioning look at Sano. "What do you think he's really going to do?"

Sanosuke shrugged. "Like he said, he's training."

Raven slurped up a noodle and cleaned off his mouth. "I'd be pretty comfortable betting it's got something to do with a certain pink-haired kunoichi."

Sanosuke shook his head and sprawled his tired body out. "I'd bet brunette."

* * *

They were half right; currently our bandana wearing hero was strolling to training ground 45. Right next to the forest of death, it was a nice clear area, populated with nothing but rock and trees. He stood in the middle and pressed his palms together to focus.

_Why is it bothering me what she does with her time?_

He felt the chakra building up and coursing through his body. Energy, precious, lively, energy coursed from his palms. _WHY?!_ His chakra crackled around him, building, and swelling until it was visibly leaking out. He could outrun his friends, but not himself. _Are you just going to keep skirting around it or are you going to think?!_

He concentrated the wildly surging chakra into his right hand and attempted the fire release rasengan. Faster, stronger and more intense in color it grew. A mini-hurricane of flame grew in his hand, like a charging heartbeat. _I don't know! I just don't know!_

It spun rapidly and flames licked from the edges of it. The jutsu was complete and he saw it in his and he charged for the nearest rock he saw. In his semi-frenzied state, he released flame all around his body in torrents, accelerating him to incredible speeds as he collided with the boulder. "Fire release: Rasengan!"

He slammed the attack into the boulder at high speed and it simultaneously tore away the rock and melted it, forming and then cooling melted rock and flinging it back. He almost had it until he felt his hand give way again. Kenshin gripped it even harder, inducing chakra burns on his hand, trying to control it.

With gritted teeth, he struggled to perfect the flow of chakra. He was maintaining it well until he noticed his Rasengan turning crimson. Little bits of it were leaking into the fire and the whole thing was being reddened. The chakra was unstable and it completely overflowed the rasengan. It exploded in a great showing if crimson chakra and fire, sending him rocketing backwards and sliding to a stop.

Coughing, he raised his face from the dirt, and looked at the scene he'd caused. The earth had been charred and melted until it resembled glass, the rock, completely liquidated. Every tree within 50 yards had been scorched. He sat up and tried to comprehend what had happened. Staring at his hand, he saw intense chakra burns from the technique.

The only thought that he could get out was. _Crimson._ He hadn't noticed his aura either, the flames were tinged crimson and he let them die down. He doubled over in pain as his hand started burning insanely. "DAMN! "

He writhed around a bit and dropped to his knees. _I've got…to get…to Fumiko._ He stopped right there and gripped his burning hand tight. _NO! I can't be around her right now. That Mitsune character makes me want to puke. _

His heart hurt, his hand hurt and that attack used up a lot of chakra. He tried to rise from his knees but couldn't. Eyes squeezed tight, he tried with all his might, but his body told him to stay put. He sprawled out on the ground and closed his eyes, hand in no better shape; he couldn't take the pain anymore.

There he lay, for at least 10 minutes before someone came along. A dog barked and a young woman was heard. "Murasaki, you must be going crazy, I don't see anything around here."

The dog barked again and threw its head in Kenshin's direction and she gasped. "Ken-kun! Oh god, what happened here?"

She knelt down beside his body and inspected him. Eyes were closed and pained, but he was breathing. She called Murasaki over. "Come on girl; help me get him to the hospital." She loaded him on top if her companion and patted her on the head before sweeping her arm out sharply. Mura immediately took off with Hinome not far behind.

They arrived at the hospital in no time flat. They ran in with Kenshin hanging limply from Mura's back. Entering the hospital, Hinome immediately picked out Tsunade, who was about to check out. "Tsunade-sama! I need your help!"

Tsunade turned around with a furrowed eyebrow until she saw who had talked to her. "Oh! Hinome! What's wrong?"

She pointed to Kenshin and Tsunade gasped. "Kenshin! What have you done?" She looked at Hinome accusingly; the latter put her hands up in defense. "I didn't do it! I found him lying at the training ground like this!"

Tsunade sighed. "Ok, let's get him into a room. Shiho, I'm taking room 7C." She led them into said room and laid Ken down on the bed before working on his hand. The familiar green glow emitted from her hands and the hand was steadily repaired. She wrapped the hand up tight and offered Hinome a chair. "Here, watch over him for a while, he'll come around in an hour."

Hinome nodded and sat down, drawing a sigh of relief. Mura lay down next to her. Hand over her face in stress and feet propped up on an end table, she waited there.

About 45 minutes later, with Hinome dozing off in Ken's room, she heard a voice in the hallway. "……And this is where I work."

"Ah, This place is very clean, obviously due to your expertise."

"Oh stop it you."

Hinome grew angry; Fumiko was flirting while her friend was suffering in a hospital bed. She quelled her anger and tilted her head low to avoid being seen as well as raising her legs a bit more to block out Kenshin.

As the voiced grew closer she heard. "Wait."

"What is it my dear?"

"I thought I saw…something."

Hinome silently cursed as she saw Fumiko's Pink head pop in. "Hinome! Good to see you, what are you doing…….." Her eyes panned over to Kenshin. "….here. WHAT HAPPENED?!"

She stormed over to Hinome and grabbed her by the collar. "Answer me Hinome, what happened?"

Hinome pushed her off roughly. "You happened."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Are you saying this is my fault?!" Fumiko was now in Hinome's face.

"Kenshin told me about you and that arrogant ass."

"Why would that matter?!"

"You go off with this guy in a heartbeat and don't even stop to think what kind of trouble Ken could get into?!"

"Well I…."

"No, don't bother. You should know that he trains when he's trying to figure stuff out. Look at him!"

Mitsune stepped in and shoved Hinome a little. "You will cease your boorish behavior towards this fine young woman. You madam, have the manners of an oaf." Murasaki jumped and started barking at him.

There was a ruffling of sheets and a sound of drawn metal. Kenshin had awoken during the yelling, drawn his sabers and was now holding them in a scissor position at Mitsune's neck. His eyes were burning with fury.

"I'd consider your next words very carefully boy, or else you won't be able to say you have a good head on your shoulders!"

Mitsune choked. "Ah, the old familiar places eh? I hope this doesn't become a trend with us."

Hinome put her hand on Kenshin's arm. "Don't do it ken-kun, he's not worth it."

"Ken- KUN?! Who are you to call him that?!"

"I'm his friend, I brought him to get help when I found him unconscious REMEMBER?!"

Kenshin sheathed his sabers and pulled the two apart. Pushing Fumiko and Mitsune out of the room, he was in no mood for this. "Just get out of here. You're bothering me and Hino-chan."

"Hino-chan?! What's going on here?!"

"None of your business." Kenshin slammed the door in her face, leaned up against it and then slid down.

"I'll make it my business mister, do you hear me?!"

"Come on darling, let's get going." The two departed quickly after that.

Kenshin drew his knees up to his chest and heaved a long sigh. "I'm sorry you had to see that Hino-chan."

"It's ok, I'm just glad you're safe." She sat down next to him and leaned on him playfully. He stretched a bit and fidgeted, as if he was unsure of how to say the next words.

"Umm, about today, I…"

"Yeah..?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure how I feel about you just yet. "

"Oh……I see…" she got up and opened the door gently. Murasaki followed suit. "I care about you Ken, remember that." Then she was gone. Ken hung his head, tears threatened to spill out. "Great."

* * *

A little depressing, but eh such is love sometimes, i hope you enjoyed it, as always R+R so you can help me help you!


	6. The Forest of Death, Training of Heroes!

Ok, so sorry this hasn't been weekly as I intended but school and social things get in the way of even posting these chapters. I was advised to post them on friday or saturday as they are the best days for people reading these things on . So obviously when I miss my window I have to wait a week. As usual thanks goes to the aforementioned authors who have contributed their time and creativity to their characters and Takaondo or doing both that and editing the fics in their free time. So enjoy! and please R+R.

* * *

Elements of order

Chapter 6

Forest of death, training of heroes!

Hinome had left. Kenshin was on the ground, not really moving whatsoever. Staring at his injured hand, he wanted to slam it against something. _Maybe it'll distract me long enough. _Ken spotted a bottle of medication standing on the night stand. Picking it up, he read the label. "Vicodin, painkiller, take one per day."

He opened it up and popped a pill. Suddenly, everything stopped, his whole body washed over with a numbing and warm sensation. His balance was slightly off and his pupils were dilated, but it didn't hurt. He stumbled out of the room and down the street in a haze. _It doesn't feel so bad anymore, these pills are FANTASTIC._

Almost running into several things along the way, he managed to make it home. *SLAM* He walked in and a started Raven fell off the couch. "Gah! What the hell? Kenshin, what's up with you?"

Ken held up the bottle and proceeded walking. "Oh goody, he's doped up."Raven rolled his eyes and went over to Sanosuke's room and knocked on the door. "Oi, we got a situation out here." He heard a thump and some muffled grumbling. "What is it now?"

"Seems like our new friend had a mishap." The door creaked open."What?"

Raven pointed over to Ken, who was struggling to open up his door. Sanosuke smacked himself in the forehead. "Ok, now, we should be concerned. Kenshin!"

"….What?"

"What possessed you to take those pills?"

Kenshin held up his injured hand. "This, among other things….."

"Look at me…..You don't need these." He yanked them out of his hand.

"Hey…those are mine."

"Not anymore." He slammed them down on the counter. "If I spot you ingesting anymore of this medication, I'll take you outside and beat some sense into you."

Kenshin stared him down. "What do you care?!"

He was suddenly struck down with a fist before Raven restrained Sanosuke. "Whoa, chill dude!" Sano made no further move to strike Kenshin again. Spitting out a little bit of blood, Ken sat on the ground. "Seems par for my week, you want to add a knee to the head Raven?"

Raven sighed. "Dude, so not the time to be doing this. Why are you acting like a total Jackass?"

"Oh fine! I don't know what business it is of yours, but I ruined it with Hinome and Fumiko's out with Mitsune doing god knows what. All in all, I don't feel mentally right!" The vicodin was wearing off and Kenshin looked extremely tired.

Raven sighed. "Harsh."

Sanosuke pulled Kenshin to his feet. "My friend, pills aren't the answer. Get some sleep and deal with it in the morning."

"Hrrrn…..Alright." Kenshin stalked back off towards his room and managed to get in, finally. Sanosuke heaved a heavy sigh and his shoulders sagged. "Raven, have you ever had a sense of impending doom?"

Raven shuddered as he returned to his own room. "I know exactly what you mean, I think we've encountered some danger-attracting people."

Sanosuke nodded. "Well, we're in it for the long haul, but I'm going to bed."

"Yeah, night."

The two returned to their respective rooms and Kenshin flopped onto his bed. Staring up at the ceiling like countless times before he needed solace, he thought, _I wonder what you're doing now Fumiko. _He clutched his hand, it started to burn again.

* * *

Unfortunately for Ken, Fumiko was still out with Mitsune. Sitting at the dumpling shop, they were next from each other chewing teasingly on dumplings. Mitsune leaned over and took a bite out of hers. "Thank you, my lady."

"Hey!" She chomped one off of his stick. "Eye for an eye right?"

Mitsune chuckled. "You are correct my lady." She leaned on him and the two said nothing for a little while, she chewed thoughtfully and looked at the moon.

_What was that all about Kenshin? Ken-kun, Hino-chan, what is going on between those two, and what did I do? I was just showing Mitsu around. And what did that idiot do to his hand?! _

Fumiko sighed. Too many questions and not enough answers would put someone on edge. She felt warmth coming from Mitsune, and relaxed with that. Her mind drifted to the campsite and that night…._Kenshin._

"Is something the matter Fumiko?"

"Huh? Oh….it's nothing….."

"Are you sure?" He angled his face right next to hers and affixed his ice-blue eyes to her ocean blue ones. "….Yeah…" They inched closer until they could feel each others' breath on their faces. When his face was as close as possible, she didn't dare breath and her eyes closed as she leaned forward more. Their lips brushed, briefly at first and then more intensity the second.

For a minute or so, they held the lip lock and then parted, slightly breathless.

"That was…..wonderful."

"Truly magnificent, your lips are like clouds."

Fumiko blushed. "T-thanks…."

He nuzzled into her neck a bit and she bit her lip in slight embarrassment, unused to all this attention lavished on her.

Kei, sipping tea on a balcony not far from their location shook his head. _This is DEFINITELY going to cause some problems…and I'll be in the middle of it….wonderful._

He finished with the hot liquid in his thermos and heard Fumiko say "It's getting late; we'd better call it a night."

"Very well, but I've had a wonderful time. I wonder, if we could do this again tomorrow night, I'd be delighted to see you again."

Fumiko bit her lip again, unsure of what to say. "Um….sure… just meet me back here tomorrow night around 8 ok?"

"Of course, Good night Fumiko."

"Later Mitsune."

They parted in opposite directions and Kei pursued Fumiko against his better judgment to track Mitsune. As she crossed the street she heard "I take it your night went well?"

She wheeled about. "Kei?! What are you doing around here?! Did my father send you to spy on me?! Don't you dare tell him what happened back there!"

Kei held up a hand to silence her. "If I could just get a word in edgewise……I did that for Kenshin's sake."

Fumiko halted her murderous glances at him. She knew he could be lying through his teeth, or he could be completely honest. "Why should I trust you?"

Kei shrugged. "Nobody says you have to….it's all up to you. But maybe you want to make up with Kenshin….I overheard that little fight some way away."

She actually looked ashamed. Shifting uncomfortably, she didn't answer.

"Well…..?"

"…What do you want me to say?"

"I don't want to say anything….besides, words are cheap, only actions can vindicate how you acted. How you BOTH acted…."

"Why are you telling me all of this? Why do you even care?"

Kei shrugged. "My reasons are my own….Reasons that you have no business knowing at this present moment. However, I'd advise you go quickly, as I doubt he'll be there tomorrow…"

She cast her glance toward Ken's house. "What makes you say that?" She received no response and she turned around to find him gone. _Jeez, make yourself more cryptic why don't you? _She almost looked back over he should at Ken's place, but decided to trek home.

* * *

Ken, meanwhile, had been sitting on his bed, staring at the window. He had seen Fumiko, but not Kei. He had seen her hesitate and secretly hoped that she would turn around.

He lied back down and almost didn't want to close his eyes, fearing what he'd dream of. _I'm a mess, all this training, all this pain, what am I fighting for?_

"What indeed."

Ken sat up, startled, looking around his room, however, he found nothing. "Who's there?"

He heard the stomp of a wooden sandal and an apparition start to appear. "Why, I'm the great, the powerful, and the wise Jiraiya!"

Before him, glowing white, stood the ghost of an old man, with long, spiky, white hair. He carried a giant scroll on his back and a red vest over a green jumpsuit. He had a metal headpiece and also had a couple of bits of armor.

"Gah! What the hell?!" Kenshin backed up against his headboard and tried to reach for a saber.

"Relax boy, I'm a ghost! What am I going to do?"

"That's……a good point."

Jiraiya put a foot on the end of the bed and leveled him a look. "Regardless, I bet you know all about me!" He struck a heroic pose and Kenshin sweat-dropped. "Uh, not really, Naruto-sensei and Kakashi-sensei only mentioned you in passing."

"WHAT?! Why those ungrateful little scamps!"

Kenshin cracked a smile. Hearing his mentors called kids was amusing. "So you knew them huh? I'm guessing you either died or I've gone insane"

Jiraiya laughed. "Who's to say both didn't happen? Ha, yeah, I knew them, I taught Naruto the rasengan!"

This earned wide eyes and a gaping mouth from Kenshin, who near fainted. "Seriously?! Wow!"

Jiraiya rubbed his knuckles on his vest to show off a little more. "Yup, and from what I gather, he taught it to you too!"

Kenshin could only nod, impressed by this old master.

Jiraiya beamed. "Well that's just awesome, although, I have to say, you're a lot calmer than your mentor was ha-ha!"

Kenshin laughed along with him. "You know what though; I'm not the only one to get the rasengan from him."

"I know, Naruto married that old battle axe Sakura and had himself a pretty little girl. Isn't that right?"

"Uh…yeah, that's right."

Jiraiya looked over at the new team seven's picture and whistled. "She really is pretty. Looks a lot like her mother did. I bet she's got her temper to boot."

"…Yeah, she's a real pistol." Ken smiled wistfully at the picture.

"Having problems eh?" Jiraiya sat next to Ken on his bed and leaned back.

"I don't know anymore, I feel like I'm soft. I might even be afraid to admit what I'm thinking it could be"

Jiraiya sighed and patted Ken on his back as best as his form would allow. "Buck up kid, you got the will of fire in you."

Kenshin poured flame onto his hand. "The will of fire….."

"Neat trick kid, but the true will of fire is in here…." Jiraiya pointed to Ken's heart. "Keep getting better kid; keep driving because a man needs to get stronger from his failures. Look at Naruto, it took that kid years to get Sakura to love him and look where they are now."

"I really couldn't imagine them separate. They're two of the greatest people I know, almost like parents…."

"Yup, my only regret was not telling Tsunade…." Kenshin pointed at him in shock. "You mean you….her….really?!"

"Not really, war puts a hold on those things and many of our years together were spent fighting. Don't take for granted that you live in a time of peace."

Kenshin still played with the flame in his hand; it seemed weaker than he cared for. "Peace time is sometimes dull, but there's still training. If anything happens, I want to be at the forefront to protect this village."

Jiraiya chuckled. "That's the will of Fire kid, and it'll take you far. Do me proud and do your best, alright?" He rose from the bed and moved toward the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Back to the great beyond, I just wanted to let you know that you have people rooting for you up there, me and the Hokages included."

"Wow, really? Why am I so special?"

"It's what you do kid, and we think you're going to do great things. But one last thing, could you do me a favor and say hi to Tsunade for me?"

Kenshin nodded. "No problem, thanks for the pep talk."

Jiraiya moved towards the door. "Sure thing kid, have a good one…." He disappeared as subtly as he had appeared and Kenshin looked toward the starry sky. "Later gramps…"

* * *

The next morning….

In the early of the dewy morning, Ken yawned and stretched. The sun was peeking over the horizon, teasing at morning. Slowly and quietly, Kenshin packed a few things together in a backpack. All he wanted was some food and Kunai as well as shuriken. As he stood in the kitchen, grabbing a few pieces of meat and bread, he heard a yawn from behind him.

"What the hell?!"

Sanosuke looked at him sleepily. "Are you done yet? I'd like to get my morning started early."

Kenshin growled. "Don't sneak up on me like that; I'm very jumpy in the morning!"

"You're jumpy all the time, but on another note, where you off to?"

Kenshin sighed. "More training. I probably sound like a broken record, but I got stuff to work out….and, there's something new that I've discovered."

Sanosuke opened the orange juice and chugged a small amount, to the slight horror of Kenshin. "Man, we all drink from that! Use a glass!"

Sanosuke rolled his eyes. "Oh fine, I'll do as you wish. But, as for the training, you planning on staying there overnight?"

Kenshin didn't speak for a minute, almost like he was unsure of what to say. "This place, it's a dangerous training area in the village. Named the forest of death, it could have just the challenge I'm looking for."

Sano raised an eyebrow as he finished off his glass of OJ. "You know this sounds incredibly foolish right?"

Ken nodded without a second thought. "You need to takes risks to become the best though. I will do whatever it takes!"

"Whoa hero, hold your horses there. I admire what you want to do, but going alone isn't the best idea."

"You're not going to stop me."

Sano put his glass in the sink. "Who said anything about stopping you? I'm going with you, and let's drag that lazy bum with us."

Before he'd even finished Kenshin was on his way to wake up the aforementioned bum. Picking Raven's backpack up and tossing it at him, he was rewarded with a snort and some thrashing. "Are we under attack?! What's going on?"

The world came to as Raven heard Kenshin laughing hard at his display of surprise. Raven frowned and picked the backpack up. "Dude, what was that for?!"

He looked up at the clock. "It's not even dawn! You'd better have a damn good reason for interrupting my good dreaming."

Kenshin simply tossed him a bun as he walked back out the door. "Training dude, get ready."

* * *

A little ways away from this scene, a little later on in the morning, we find Fumiko stretching in bed. Her pink bangs were in her face and she smiled warmly at the rising sun. _It feels like a good day today._

Yawning, she rolled out of bed and limbered her body further. A few stretched to get the morning going were always advised and she finished up with another big yawn. "Oh man, I was more tired than I thought."

She slipped on her black fuzzy slippers and made her way downstairs. She rubbed her eye with the sleeve of her pink pajama shirt and was careful not to trip over her black pants as she went about her morning routine. Popping into the bathroom, she brushed her teeth and proceeded to enter the kitchen for breakfast.

She sleepily made her way over to the toaster and had to avoid being bowled over by her mom. Sakura was rushing to get ready as she had to do some work at the hospital. Grabbing some warm bread out of the toaster, Fumiko took a bite.

"Running late again mom?"

Sakura didn't pause as she downed a full carton of OJ. "Your beloved father was in a playful mood this morning, it happens."

Fumiko gagged. "Ok, too much info mom just let me finish my toast without any more mental trauma."

Sakura smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm out of here. Be good and I'll see you tonight."

"Later mom." Fumiko grabbed some milk as she heard the door close.

Alone in the empty house Fumiko ate breakfast in silence. Sakura had left some pork buns in the oven and Fumiko grabbed a couple to top the toast off. Polishing off the milk Fumiko proceeded to wash her dishes and get dressed.

Black shirt under pink vest as well as pink-trimmed black biking shorts, she was ready to go. Exiting her house, she headed for Kenshin's, eyes determined. _You and me have some unfinished business buster; you'd better be ready to explain yourself!_

As she was nearing there. She spotted Hinome walking in the same direction with Murasaki. "You!"

The raven-trussed girl turned around, recognizing Fumiko's voice. "What do you want now?"

Fumiko got up close to her and was in a threatening mood. "What's going on between you and Kenshin? Huh?"

Hinome scoffed and crossed her arms. "None of your business…." she mumbled.

"Oh it is my business! He's my best friend and I deserve to know! Now answer me!"

"Why should I?! Think about who you're dealing with here. I'm not going to answer you just because you're the Hokage's spoiled, whiny daughter! I don't know what you think you deserve, but it's not a friend like Ken-kun, yes ken-KUN!"

Murasaki was jumping around, barking at Fumiko. The latter grabbed Hinome by her shirt. "How dare you! You're as spoiled as I am being the daughter of the Hyuuga head AND Inuzuka head. And another thing, I've known Kenshin all my life, who are you to come in and start calling him Ken-kun?!"

Hinome responded in kind, grabbing Fumiko by her vest as well. "I'm his friend and I like him! Who are you to try and tell me I can't call him Ken-kun?! I'm sick of you! And I'm sick of the way you've been treating him!"

"GRAAH!" Fumiko reared back and landed a solid hit on Hinome's cheek, sending the other girl sprawling. Murasaki stepped in front of her downed partner and growled menacingly at Fumiko. "No Murasaki! This is my fight."

The violet dog stepped aside and yielded to her partner. Hinome was mad as hell; she wiped the little blood from her mouth as she stared Fumiko down. "You're going to pay for that one!"

"You're all talk you spoiled little princess!"

"Princess this!"

Hinome lunged at Fumiko and struck her in the face, evening the score, but the two proceeded to tumble around on the ground, punching each other ruthlessly. Grab, punch, the occasional cuss, the two continued even as they drew blood.

Fumiko gained the upper hand as she delivered a devastating punch to Hinome's ribs. The latter choked out in surprise and released her opponent. Fumiko got back to her feet and in a fit of rage, aimed to tackle Hinome. As she hit Hinome's back, she found herself being flipped off. "AAH!"

Hinome had regained her breath and stooped to roll Fumiko over. Hinome threw herself into a roll and slammed her heel into Fumiko's abdomen, leveling her. "Stay down!"

Fumiko was too quick though, Hinome had left her foot there too long and Fumiko twisted it, turning her adversary onto her chest. "Why don't you?!"

Hinome grunted as pressure was applied onto her foot, she knew she couldn't last much more of that, so thinking quickly, she thrust her other foot at Fumiko's direction as a distraction. Fumiko blocked the second foot, but was rewarded with first being drawn in and then kicked with both feet. "Hah! Sucker!"

She was dropped again and Hinome quickly recovered. "I'm getting tired of seeing your ugly mug!"

"The feeling's mutual bitch!" They both stared intensely at each other, bleeding, bruised and frenzied, neither making a move until Hinome simply couldn't stand waiting any longer. She charged one final time and cocked back a fist. "You're mine!"

Fumiko mirrored the action and charged Hinome too. "I'm taking you down!"

The two connected at the same time and both were thrust back, nearly unconscious. The two lay there, completely winded and barely moving. Murasaki whined as she inspected a non-moving Hinome.

"Hey there girl…..*ungh*…..I'm ok…I think…." Hinome tried to get up, but even with holding onto her companion, she could only manage to flop back down. Fumiko was breathing harshly, phasing in and out of consciousness, she heard rapid footsteps and someone calling her name.

"Fumiko! Fumiko! What happened here?!"

Fumiko saw Sakura standing above her and thanked god she was too hurt to respond at the moment. "Hi, mom….."

Fumiko finally slipped out of consciousness for the final time, as did Hinome. Sakura lugged her daughter on her shoulder and then instructed Murasaki to follow her with Hinome on the latter's back. "Come on girl, we have to get these two in a hospital room."

She was rewarded with a bark and the two took off. _I wonder what happened between these two. Where the hell is that Kenshin? He's normally around to keep Fumiko out of trouble. _

She was allowed no more time to muse as she arrived at her destination, quick as a flash. Entering the hospital she yelled out. "Ino, Shiho, I need these two prepped and in bed immediately!"

"Yes Sakura-sama!"

Sakura took both of them into the same room, which had two beds available immediately. Placing her daughter tenderly on the first one and nestling Hinome in on the second one, she applied some immediate first aid.

Quickly, she moved her glowing hands from ninja to ninja, reducing the bruises and swelling, but remnants remained. When the injuries were reduced to being conventionally treated, Sakura stopped. "There, you two should have some reminders of this incident. I just can't imagine why you'd act so violently."

Ino came in, bearing medication and bandages. As her eyes fell upon the two patients, she cringed. "I haven't seen a girl on girl fight this bad since you and I fought in the chunin exam."

Sakura smiled at her friend warmly. "That was a crazy match, but I'm not sure why these two were fighting. We fought over Sasuke, but I didn't want to lose to you in anything."

Ino nodded, still scanning the two downed ninja. "Neither of us lost, he did…..but I have a wonderful husband and two loving children and that's what I call a win."

Sakura laughed. "We both pulled out a win it seems." Her smile faded as she looked upon her daughter. Ino caught this and put a hand on her old friend's shoulder. "She'll be alright, at least physically. It's your job as a mother to find out why this happened in the first place."

With those parting words, Ino walked out of the room, clutching the medical report. "I have to get back on my shift, I'll catch you later."

"Later Ino, thanks for the talk." The door closed gently and Sakura heard a small groan emit from her injured daughter. "Ungh….. where…where am I?"

Fumiko's sight was filled with pink as she looked over at her mother, who was looking at her with hands on her hips and a foot tapping, irritated. "You're in the hospital. And you, young lady, have some explaining to do."

"Uh oh…."

* * *

Training area 44: Forest of death.

Standing at the gates of the training area, Kenshin sliced through the lock and let himself and his companions in, however, he turned around to address them first. "I'll say it one more time, neither of you is obligated to be here. This will be tough, death-defying and dangerous training. Please re-consider it for a moment, because I don't want my own selfish reasons to jeopardize your health."

"Just shut up. You think you could stop us?" Raven smirked at Kenshin.

"Aye lad, we're in this with you, whether you like it or not." Sanosuke gave him a hearty pat on the back.

Kenshin simply shook his head laughing. "Well then…" He lifted up his saber and pointed into the forest, eyes ablaze with determination. "Let's make this forest ours!"

* * *

Badassery is sure to ensue, tune in next time to Naruto: elements of order!


	7. The Forest of Death, Crimson shines!

Alright, here's chapter 7 done for elements. I know it's been a while, but the story is taking a great shape and I'm excited with how it's turning out, stick around for the ride and r+r

* * *

Elements of Order

Chapter 7

The Forest of Death

* * *

As Fumiko finished telling her mother what had happened, she was still met with a questioning gaze. "What? Mom, I told you what happened."

Sakura sighed. "You told me what happened, but, Honey, I want to know why you were acting so viciously. I don't need my daughter causing chaos in the streets for no good reason." Her emerald eyes pierced Fumiko's ocean blue ones and it made the younger ninja nervous.

Fumiko turned her head away and stared at her previous opponent. "She…She kept telling me how Ken was fed up with me. Those two were talking to each other like boyfriend and girlfriend….and Kenshin told me it was none of my business… Like I wasn't wanted anymore…" A small tear left the corner of her eye as she was visibly shaken.

Sakura embraced her daughter closely. "Shh….It's ok, it's ok." Fumiko took this opportunity to shed a few more tears into her mother's hospital garb, not making any more noise than the occasional sniffle. For a little while Fumiko, clammed up, but Sakura patted her daughter's back in an attempt to get her to continue. "So, is that all Kenshin had to say in all of this?"

Fumiko choked back the last bit of pride she felt. "Hinome did most of the talking, the most Kenshin did was defend her from Mitsune. He really threatened to hurt Mitsune mom!"

Sakura stroked her daughter's hair. "Honey, you know how protective Kenshin is about you, why wouldn't he defend Hinome?"

Fumiko frowned. "I don't know…maybe I thought he only did it for me…"

Sakura smiled. "Now, now, you know that sounds a little selfish Fumiko. " She waggled a finger at Fumiko, who smiled sheepishly. "I know, it's just….I can't imagine him not being around. "

Sakura made eye contact as she put her hands on Fumiko's shoulders, keeping her at arm's length. "Does he know that?"

"No." Fumiko said as she pouted.

"Then what's keeping him from doing the things that hurt you?" Sakura asked inquisitively.

"I don't want to tell him this stuff. What if he's mad? What if he laughs at me?" She was visibly distraught, gripping at her hair as she held back a yell.

Sakura rolled her eyes. _My little drama queen…_ "You'll never know unless you try, Honey, so what are you going to do?"

Fumiko looked out the window and bit her lip. "Maybe I should go talk to him…."

Sakura nodded. "Maybe you should. You should also probably apologize to Hinome." As she finished speaking, she nodded to the other Kunoichi, who, unbeknownst to Fumiko, had been listening in on most of the conversation.

"Hey." Hinome simply waved at her former opponent. Fumiko just looked at her with a bit of surprise. "I'm…I'm sorry." She bowed her head in shame, but Hinome simply shook her head. "I'm sorry for fighting you, but the fact stands, I like Kenshin."

Fumiko wanted to glare at Hinome, but couldn't bring herself too. She sighed. _Why am I mad at her? It's not like I like Kenshin too…do I? _"Um… ok, I guess…."

Hinome cocked an eyebrow. "Is that it? We just beat the living crap out of each other in the middle of the street and that's it?!"

Sakura got up to leave; she didn't want to be in the middle of this. "I'll just leave you two alone for a while. Fumiko, I'll see you at home."

Fumiko was going to say something, but her mother was gone. _Oh great, thanks a lot mom._ She looked over at Hinome, who was staring right back at her expectantly. "Yeah, that's…all I can say. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to him."

Hinome tried to move, but she was still recovering from the battle "Ungh…..not if I…Talk to him first!" Fumiko, having healed up quicker thanks to her father's genetics, stood up from her hospital bed and walked over to Hinome, who was glaring at her. That is, until Fumiko put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax; I'm just going to talk to him."

Without another word, she left and Murasaki jumped on her master's chest and licked her face before lowering her head and whining a little. "It's ok girl. I'll deal with whatever I have to when I get out of here." Hinome petted her partner's head and sighed.

As Fumiko exited the hospital and started down the street, she heard "Hey Fumiko!" turning around, she saw a girl with blond hair approaching her. Fumiko rolled her eyes. _Oh great, I fend off one girl, now I have to deal with another._

"Hey Inomi, what do you want?"

Inomi Akimichi was a slender girl with blond hair and brown eyes. She had her mother's face and dressed with her father's armored style when he was her age. Fishnet stocking adorned what her armor didn't cover, including her ample chest.

She caught up to Fumiko before matching her stride, fixing the pink-haired teen with a questioning glance. "What's up? I haven't seen you around lately."

Fumiko shrugged. "It's been a weird couple of days. We got dispatched to the valley of the end and got into this fight with sound ninjas."

Inomi's eyes twinkled with curiosity. "Oh really? Do go on."

Fumiko knew that look well. _This little gossip's going to get me into some kind of trouble._ She continued, however. "So Kakashi splits us up, Ken and Kei run into a couple of ninjas, one from Iwa, and one from Kumo and they get into this big fight."

Inomi snickered. "Kenshin's like a magnet for trouble."

Fumiko rolled her eyes and though sarcastically. _No kidding._ "So anyway, Kenshin gets the drop on them and glues them together, but sound ninjas ambush the four of them and have them outnumbered like 3 to 1."

Inomi gasped. "Seriously?! How'd they get out of there?"

Fumiko shivered a little, remembering the carnage on that moonlit battlefield. "The two new guys, they're good, like, they'd give Kei and Kenshin a run for their money one on one. There were bodies charred, split, just a massacre. But…one of them got Kenshin…"

At this Inomi simply nodded, too engrossed in the tale to do much more. "Is he ok?"

Fumiko paused, uncertain of what to say honestly. "Well, physically he's fine, me and Kakashi got there just in time and…." She turned green as she remembered what Kakashi did to the sound ninja. "One of them was about to kill Kenshin, but Kakashi put his Raikiri through the guy's head."

Inomi stuck her tongue out in disgust, also turning slightly green. "Gross. So what happened next?"

Fumiko sighed. "I tackled Ken out of the way when Kakashi took the guy out, but I lost my lunch when I noticed me and him were covered in someone else's blood."

A chill ran Inomi's spine as her mouth scrunched up. "That's awful!"

Fumiko nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but we washed off and went to sleep and uh…that's about it." Her eyes darted around as she remembered what had happened at the campsite, slightly blushing as she tried to avoid eye contact.

Inomi picked up on this immediately and a wicked smile tugged at her lips. "Come on Fumiko, I know you're hiding something!" She poked at her teasingly as Fumiko chuckled nervously. "Cut it out Inomi!"

The blond ninja kept prodding at her friend until Fumiko relented. "Alright! Alright! Just stop tickling me!" She managed to gasp out between fits of laughter.

With a satisfied smirk, Inomi stopped and crossed her arms in victory. "So dish girlie, what happened?"

Fumiko's lungs felt like collapsing from the weight of the truth. "Well me and Ken…kind of….slept together….." she finished in a near whisper and Inomi wasn't sure she had hear that last part right, so she just stood looking at Fumiko for a moment or two. "You mean…intimately? Even with Kakashi there?!"

Fumiko blushed fiercely and waved a fist at her friend. "No you dolt! I fell asleep clinging to him!" This outburst earned curious stares from the people around. Fumiko looked around in embarrassment and cleared her throat before continuing her trek to Kenshin's.

Inomi shook her head as she regained her hearing from Fumiko's tirade and caught back up to her. "So then what?"

Fumiko had her hands stuffed in her pockets and grumbled at her friend's persistence, but finally asked. "What do you mean 'then what?"

Inomi kept grinning at her knowingly. "Because if that was it, you'd be on cloud nine because you got to sleep with Kenny-boy."

Fumiko huffed and started marching indignantly. "You're crazy."

"Just a little, but that's not the point here is it?" Inomi asked mischievously as she kept hovering around Fumiko incessantly.

Fumiko huffed again. "So we get back here and there's a guy from the Village of sound here meeting with dad so, we make a big mess of things by vaulting into the office with a prisoner. Mitsune was there to discuss peace with the new sound village."

"Oh, so this new guy has a name? What's he like?" Inomi would not let up.

Fumiko actually got a bit of a dreamy look in her eye this time around. "He's great, he's handsome, he cares about his village, and he treats me really nicely. He…He kissed me yesterday."

This brought a jaw-drop from Inomi's face."No Way! How was it?! "She also got a dreamy look on her face. "I bet it was fantastic…."

Fumiko nodded slowly. "It was like time stood still, kind of sweet and soft, but with passion."

At this, Inomi hugged her friend. "Oh, you lucky girl, I'm happy for you."

Fumiko chuckled and hugged her back. "Thanks, but uh…why did you assume I went out with him before I told you?"

Inomi blanched. "Um, well, I ran into Hinome a while ago and she wasn't happy."

It was Fumiko's turn to blanch before she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, great, she's been a pain in my side lately. "

Inomi waved her hand dismissively. "It's no biggie, she's gonna get Kenshin, but you got Mitsune, everything's working out."

This earned a guilty pang in Fumiko's heart. _What the hell?_ She put a hand over her heart. _What…is wrong with me?_ She didn't notice she had zoned out and now Inomi was waving a hand in front of her face. "Fumiko, Fumiko? Hey Fumiko!"

Fumiko snapped to reality and threw her hands up in front of her face in defense. "Ah! Chill Inomi!"

The blond sighed. "We're at Kenshin's, what are we doing here?"

Fumiko looked around and noticed that in her stupor, she'd already turned the corner to Ken's unconsciously. She laughed nervously. "Yeah, about that, I have to talk to that knucklehead and make sure he's alright from yesterday…"

Inomi shrugged."Alright, I don't want to invade your privacy here, so I'll catch you later Fumiko!" She waved and was about to jet before Fumiko protested.

"Wait, where are you going in such a hurry?" Asked Fumiko.

"I've got to get to the flower shop soon or my mom's going to have my head. "Inomi grimaced as she thought about what kinds of moods her mother gets into.

Fumiko nodded and waved. "Alright, alright, I'll see you later." Once she turned back around, Inomi ducked around the corner just out of sight, where she proceeded to tap her foot impatiently as she seemed to be waiting for something.

All of a sudden, a familiar dark-haired ninja was seen landing on the wall above where Inomi was waiting. "Thanks….you're information was…helpful."

She winked at him. "Anytime Kei."

He was about to jump off, but she cleared her throat before wagging a finger at him. "Hold on buster, there's the matter of our date for letting you listen in on Fumiko's info."

Kei rolled his eyes. _Troublesome woman….she's going to blow my cover._ "Yeah…That….Maybe later." He bounded off of the rooftop, but not before hearing. "Hey! Get back here!"

Inomi kicked the dirt as she stalked off. _You owe me Kei; I'll get you for this one._

Back up the road….

Fumiko was going to knock on the door, but hesitated for a minute as she composed her nerve. _Come on, what's the big deal, it's just Kenshin. _This thought however didn't help to stop her hand from shaking as she rapped on the door.

Once. No answer. "Kenshin! Let me in."

Twice, a little harder….No answer. "Come on, I know you're in there!"

Thrice, really hard…No answer. "Open up!"

Fourth time, hardest…too hard. The door gave way after the Kunoichi had pounded the living hell out of it, earning a yelp of surprise from Fumiko as she fell inside the house with it.

"Ah! "

*SLAM**cough* *cough*

She tumbled in on top of the door as it crashed to the floor, rolling and waving her hands around to clear the dust. She looked around but saw the house was devoid of life. "Kenshin? Hey, I'm sorry about the door, but…."

She stopped and scanned the upstairs with her ears. Nothing. Now she grew worried. "Hey, are you here?" She went through the rooms but found no sign of the other two. "Sanosuke? Raven? Hey, come on, someone answer me!"

She kept looking until she stumbled onto a note on the kitchen counter. She picked it up and immediately recognized Kenshin's scribbled handwriting. It read:

_**To whom it may concern,**_

_**My friends and I have taken off for training ground 44 and we'll be training there for the foreseeable future. Please don't come looking for us, we'll be fine on our own and will come back eventually.**_

_**-Kenshin**_

Fumiko noticed the note started looking blurry and she touched her face to wipe off a set of fresh tears coming to her eyes. _Why does he do this? Is he trying to get himself killed?_

Folding the note back up, she put it back where she'd found it and sat down at the table to ride out the initial shock, that is, before she heard a set of feet land on the windowsill. She didn't even need to look over at who it was to know.

"Kei…what do you know about this?"

Clamoring in to the kitchen, her teammate shrugged. "I don't know…seems like he's working some stuff out…but I didn't expect him leaving…where is he?"

She pointed to the note. "It said training ground 44. Kei, that's the forest of death! Do you know what kind of hellish creatures live there? What if they get hurt or killed?"

Kei was actually surprised at this; it was evident in his face. "What would make him go there…?"

Fumiko shook her head as more tears threatened to spill. "I don't know….I just don't know….." She took a step towards him and actually hugged him, burying her face in his chest. "Please Kei, I need you to find him, make sure he's ok. Because I don't know what's going on with him anymore."

The stoic ninja was left speechless once more. He pushed her off himself with utmost gentleness and pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve. "Stop crying….it won't help now."She took it and blew into it, a slightly disgusting sound, even coming from her.

Kei winced and turned toward the window. Fumiko grabbed his arm however. "Wait, I know you and Kenshin don't get along, but please, this is the one thing I'll ever ask from you…."

Kei smirked and gently removed her hand before jumping onto the sink. "Save that request….for when you actually need it."

She looked at him optimistically. "You mean-?!"

He nodded and left her with the words "He's my teammate too….No matter how much we bicker. I can't leave him out to dry…..I'll be back tonight, leave your window open for me to give you a status report."

She nodded and he bound away with light and quick steps. "Thank you…" Fumiko whispered as she returned to the living room and lay down on the couch. All of that day's activities had worn her out and she needed a nap. _You'd better be alright you jerk…_ Her body relaxed and her eyes slumped as she drifted off into blissful sleep.

* * *

At the training ground…

Kenshin was currently panting and hiding behind the thick stump of one of the giant trees that inhabited the forest. He had his blades out and was checking either side of his vision for any signs of moment. _Damn, these guys are good. Now where are they?_

He looked up and started scaling the tree by digging his sabers into the bark. Slowly and as quietly as possible, he made his way about halfway up, just until he got to the lowest branch and crouched, waiting.

Soon, two figures entered his sight. Sanosuke and Raven had their weapons drawn and were stalking quietly into the area.

Graphite claymore held over his shoulder, Sanosuke tried to sense Kenshin through the ground, but could not single out his vitals among the large forest. It was like the trees themselves had a pulse. "I can't locate him; the area's too big, anything in the trees?" He asked as he turned to Raven.

Raven jumped and bounded off of the closest tree, and flipped on to the top of the trunk. He stood and scanned around thoroughly, that is until; he saw a flame bandana hiding among the trees. He smiled to himself. _Gotcha, it's all over ken._

Kenshin, on the other hand, had his bandana waving in the wind…on the branch directly beneath him resting on top of a log wearing his bandana and his jacket. _That's right…come on….take the bait. _His body tensed as he saw Raven level his staff. _Make the jump, make the damn jump!_

Almost as if responding to his wishes, Raven launched himself off of the tree trunk and right at what he assumed was Kenshin and brought his staff down in a shining arc. "Gotcha, sucker!" He heard a *thunk* as his staff wedged and burned into the wood.

Kenshin smiled. "No, I got you!" Kenshin yelled out to his friend as he dove head-first from the branch above and grabbed Raven's ankles, spinning him so that his head was the first thing going into the ground. Caught by surprise, all Raven could say was "What the hell…!"

As the ground approached Kenshin cried out. "Peregrine falcon drop!"

Sanosuke grunted made some quick hand seals and placed his hands on the ground. "Earth release: soft impact."

As both Raven and Kenshin came down, the earth liquefied where they hit and swallowed both up. Raven's head stuck in, as did Kenshin's legs. Kenshin was forced to let go of Raven and moved slowly out of the pool of quicksand, until Sanosuke prepared another technique. "Earth release: Mud's deadly embrace!"

The quicksand covering Kenshin's lower half increased in pressure and started dragging him back into the pool. He looked over at Sano and smirked. "You're going to have to do better than that!" He aimed his palm at the mud and streamed a white hot flame from it. "Fire release: Dragon palm!"

Sanosuke frowned as the mud was baked from the flames, making it brittle and easily breakable. "Well that's no fun. But I guess now you'll indulge me in a little sword play."

Kenshin cracked the hardened earth around him and rolled out of the pit, drawing his blades. Raven was left to flail around and try to get his head free, appearing like an ostrich with his head in the ground. Kenshin chuckled at his friend's predicament, but then focused on the one with the gigantic blade hovering forward.

"That was a pretty good try Sano, but you can't keep a good shinobi down." Ken charged at him and was forced to jump back as Sanosuke slammed the flat of his blade down to crack the earth. The emerald ninja grinned at Kenshin. "I suppose not, but you can't blame a guy for trying." He swung the sword down to cleave ken, but Kenshin crossed his blades to block.

The strength surprised Kenshin as his knees wobbled a little. _Oh crap! He's too strong! _With a grunt, Kenshin threw Sano's blade out to the side and rolled in the opposite direction. Regaining his footing, he circled his opponent. "That's some crazy force you got behind that sword."

Sanosuke hefted it as he matched Ken's circling. "Why thank you. You're pretty quick; I think I'll have to finish this fast." Sano lifted his blade high and slammed it on the ground, creating a fissure that nearly swallowed Kenshin up. Sticking his blades into the ground next to him, Kenshin managed to hold himself up, most of his torso already in the hole.

Wincing in pain as his shoulder was stressed; Kenshin noticed that Sano was advancing. "So Kenshin, how's your fire going to get you out of this one?"

Kenshin grinned, but mentally frowned as he also realized that Raven had gotten loose and was standing behind him. "Yeah Ken, is that all you got?" Raven asked as he pointed his staff at the shinobi in the hole.

Straining to keep himself up, he knew he was caught. Panting and sweating through the black ninja mesh on his upper torso, he tried to get some footing, but the chasm was really big. _Crap, is this it? Is this the limit of my abilities? _He looked up at his two opponents, never losing his grin. "I don't think I'm done quite yet."

The two took a step back, preparing for anything funny Kenshin tried. Sano planted his blade in front of him. "Give it up Kenshin; I've got you in a hole."

Raven laughed. "You can say that again…."

Kenshin chuckled too, but his mind was elsewhere. The two faces before him slowly turned into two visions of Mitsune. Kenshin shook his head, but the hallucinations persisted. They both sneered and laughed at him. "Give it up Kenshin, she's mine!"

This made him want to let go, but his grips actually hardened. He made eye contact with the one that took Sanosuke's place. "I will never give up! Do you hear me?!" Suddenly his irises turned crimson and Sanosuke was taken aback.

"What in the name of…?" He drew back out his blade and stood ready to defend himself.

Raven took another step back too. "Sanosuke, what the hell is going on?!"

Sanosuke simply shrugged as he simply stared in awe at the amount of chakra pouring out of Kenshin. Vaulting out of the hole, Kenshin landed on his feet with an intimidating force, crimson chakra swirling about him in a torrent. "I'll never give up Mitsune!"

Sanosuke put his blade in a bracing position. "What is he talking about mistune for?!"

Ravine shrugged and jumped behind Sanosuke, trying to use the latter's build to block the wind force coming off of Kenshin. "I don't know Sano; I think he's finally gone nuts!" Raven said as he knelt to further protect himself.

Kenshin spared no time as he held his blades out in a whirling pattern. "Crimson tornado!" The other two were blown back by what looked to be a Crimson version of the Hyuuga's heavenly spin. It was almost exactly the same, but there was a scorching element added to the technique and the two were forced back by the heat, as well as Sano being pushed back by the repeated striking of Kenshin's sabers against his claymore.

The two were pressed into the trunk of yet another big tree as the storm died down. Standing in a swirling vortex of chakra, Kenshin's body steamed as he crouched like a predator before them. There was something, primal, instinctual about his presence.

The faces before Kenshin faded back into their normal ones, looking at him with a sense of wonderment, if not a little fear. Looking ashamed at himself, he sheathed his blades, but the chakra persisted as he flexed his hand in front of his face. "Incredible." He muttered.

"Crimson…." A new voice said, as the three looked around in apprehension. Kenshin stepped forward, increasing a flame in his hand. "Who are you?!" He screamed at the seemingly empty forest. A set of feet landed behind them and he whirled the fire fist in that direction, but it was met with a firm grasp on his wrist. "Who do you think……? Idiot."

Kenshin let the flame dissipate. "Heh, what are you doing around here Kei?" He chuckled as he greeted his friend.

Kei shrugged. "Making sure….that you're not getting yourself into trouble…"

Kenshin chuckled and he picked up his sabers. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it, didn't think you were the protective type." Kenshin laughed as he finished.

Kei hit him upside the back of the head before proceeding in front of him. "Don't question it…just be glad she sent me."

Sanosuke and Raven were too preoccupied in shaking off Kenshin's outburst to pick up what Kei had said.

Kenshin however, did. "So what're you saying?" He stepped forward, eliciting a quicker response. Kei put his hands up in defense as he took a seat on the ground. "Relax….I'm not here to start anything….in fact, I want to help you train…" A gleam came to his eye as he said this.

Kenshin sighed. "Well that's a first." He sat down next to Kei and crossed his legs. "What about Fumiko?"He asked, eyebrows raised.

Raven rolled his shoulders as he came up and sat next to them. "I'm sure she can take care of herself." He breathed out in relief as his butt hit the ground. Sanosuke shortly followed their example as he sat next to Raven and turned his head toward the setting sun. Heaving his shoulders and laying back he nodded.

"Raven's probably right, if anything happens, she can hold her own." Sanosuke said as he kicked off his shoes and sprawled out.

Kenshin heaved a sigh. "Alright, fine, let me just start a fire and we'll relax."

* * *

Konoha……

At Kenshin's house, Fumiko still lay on the couch and a lone figure appeared in the doorway. Cloaked in completely black, he prowled around the first floor, pausing only momentarily to look at Fumiko.

Quickly making his way up the stairs, he found Kenshin's room and looked around, before locating the explosives pack. He loaded his pockets with those and then crept back down and back over to the couch. Kneeling next to Fumiko, he stroked the back of his hand on her face, tenderly, even catching a whiff of her scent.

"Kenshin…."was all that she said.

The figure stood back up quickly, fist clenched in rage. He withdrew a knife from his sleeve and held the gleaming blade toward his victim……..

* * *

Oh hell she's in trouble. Will she get out alright? who knows, you'll have to come back and read! R+R would be appreciated


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